Sacrifice
by Achilles1011
Summary: She will do anything to keep Bo safe, she will do anything it takes to make sure that she does not die. She will take on the world and take on a prophecy in order to ensure the survival of Bo. Even if it means paying the ultimate price. The story of one person's sacrifice and the other's choice, whether to save the world and herself or to let it crumble and burn. Spoilers for 4x12.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is meant to take place at the end of 4x12 and is a sort of speculative story of what could happen afterwards. Thank-you for all the reads, favourites, follows and as always I enjoy hearing your thoughts in reviews.**

"Monster…" The angry voice screamed out through gritted teeth. "That's so cruel."

She watched in mixed fascination and horror as Massimo continued to spiral down into insanity in front of her, alternating between yelling at Evony and looking at her.

She wished she could scoot further into the little cave within his apartment, back into the comfort and the safety she could find within the darkness. But she couldn't go any further back.

All she could do was watch this man slowly lose his mind, or perhaps lose what little sanity he had left.

She wanted so badly to just curl up into a ball and disappear, hoping that he wouldn't notice, but she couldn't.

"I hate you!" She heard him roar. The anger in his voice caused a little tremor of fear to run down her spine.

"But I love you." She heard him say softly, much less anger in his voice.

She wanted to be anywhere but here.

She had to resist the urge to cry, to allow tears of fear to escape.

She wanted to run. She just wanted to get away, to get away for the fear and the pain that seemed to haunt her.

"The Valkyrie hair. The seed. What will make you love me?"

She pressed her knees a little closer to her chest as she watched Massimo pace back and forth in front of her. She could feel the waves of pain wash over her as she aggravated her bruised and beaten frame but there was nothing she could do to stop her body as she shook in fear.

She knew that for the moment he was yelling at Evony, meaning that she was safe from his harsh words and from his hands. But still she continued to shake in fear.

This was to much, it was to much like the thoughts that sometimes ran through her mind.

What would it take for anyone to love her?

What would it take for her brother to love her?

What would it take for her parents to look at her? To actually take a moment to look at her and pay attention to her? What would it take for them to approve of her?

What would it take for her mother and father to love her?

How long would it take Nadia to realize that she was damaged goods? That she was broken almost beyond repair.

How long would it take Bo to leave her again?

How much longer would it be until she was abandoned once again?

How long was it until she was left alone in this world for good this time?

She knew she shouldn't let him get to her like this, that she shouldn't allow these thoughts to creep into her head. She knew that she should have put up more of a fight, that she shouldn't have allowed herself to get beaten up.

She thought she had changed, but she was still the weak pathetic human wasn't she?

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." She heard him utter as he began to hit the wall of the place she was sitting in. She curled into herself a little tighter as fear and anxiety overwhelmed her. She could hear a little whimper escape as her eyes started to water more.

"You. I will get her everything she wants, I will be everything she wanted. And you. You're going to help me."

She had to swallow back the fear as the anger rose. "I will not." She whispered, her voice defiant.

She would never help this man, this psychotic man-child.

She would never do anything for him.

"We are going to make a great team." She hear him utter, plainly ignoring what she had just said. "Of course you'll have to die."

No.

She will do many things but she will not, and she cannot help this person. "I will not help a madman."

"I am not a monster! Stop calling me a monster!" Massimo yelled out at her, she could feel another whimper escape and her eyes tear up in fear. She brought clasped her hand together and brought them up to rest against her chin, her eyes screwing shut as the fear overtook her.

"When you see what I'm about to do it's… You're a scientist, you are really, really going to dig this." She suppressed the urge to whimper again as she brought her hands up to cover her eyes for a brief moment before she brought them back down and began to clap them together trying to think of a way out of this situation.

She could tell that it was deteriorating rapidly, that if Massimo had any grip left on his sanity he was loosing it quickly. She needed to find a way out of this, but she wasn't even sure she could talk without whimpering in fear.

She had been in this situation before but Bo had come bursting through the door before it had gotten this bad.

Think! She glanced up at Massimo to see him reaching for a box. He walked back over towards her, laughing silently as he reached down to open the box.

She could feel a chill run down her spine as she realized what could be in there.

No.

Anything but that.

All she wanted was to be out of this situation, all she wanted was someone to come in and break down the door, to come charging in to rescue her from this crazy man.

She took a breath and stared Massimo in the eyes, silently begging him to please stop, to please think about what he was doing, what he was about to do to them all. She could see him wave the box in front of her and she could feel her stomach sink as he opened it and pulled a small seed out of it.

So small, and yet it had the power to ruin them all.

"This. Is. The origin seed."

No. No.

"Seed." She whispered to herself, disbelief in her voice.

No. If that seed was used, if it's powers were activated then…

"No Massimo. I will do anything, please, please do not eat that." She begged, her body aching from the beating that she had taken and quaking from the fear at what was about to happen if she couldn't stop this. She needed to stop this, she needed to find a way to reason with him.

"Whoever takes this seed will have the combined powers of the Una Mens and that means all the power." No. Please no. "And it is all mine."

He was mad. He was completely insane.

And this was it.

This was it wasn't it?

She watched as she popped the seed in his mouth.

"No, no, no." She called out pathetically. She couldn't move, she was shaking so much and she was deserate to stop this and all she wanted was this to end, to be pulled out of this nightmare.

She just wanted someone, anyone to come for her.

Everything that she had done, all of the things that she had sacrificed would be for naught. All this emotional pain, all of this denial and all of this loneliness would be worth nothing.

It would all be nothing. Everything would be for nothing.

She had to stop this, she had to try and find a way to stop this. And yet all she could do was curl in on herself and cry a little more, the fear for herself and for her lover, her best friends, her _family_ overriding any rational thought capacity.

Any ability to form a plan. She had no way by which to stop this rapidly deteriorating situation.

She needed help, and she needed to be saved, except this time she was frozen.

And because of that she was frozen, she couldn't move, she couldn't say anything beyond begging Massimo to stop, all she could do was beg someone to stop. She wished that Bo would come, that anyone would come because she was not sure if she had the capacity to save herself this time, she was not sure if she could even stand right now let alone run.

She had been beaten again, she was exhausted, she was frightened and in pain. And ironically she found herself wishing for Bo once again.

This was so familiar to her. The second time that this had happened to her, and more then anything else right now she wished that Bo would come charging in and beat up this crazy man, and take her into her arms and shelter her from the world.

Just one more time she wanted to be in Bo's arms, to feel her lips against her own, to feel her skin against her own, to be able to talk with Bo about everything or nothing, to finally have so help and some support, to have someone to fall back on, who would support her.

But she had none of that; she had nothing and no one except for an unhealthy love for a succubus and her own scientific and rational mind. She could see Massimo looking at her, leering at her with his eyes.

The ones that stared back at her full of madness. Holding the seed in his hand, holding it in front of her.

"Please." She begged, her voice cracking one again at the fear that she was feeling, at the stress and emotional and physical anguish that she was feeling. All she could do was see him smile as he popped what looked like a nut in his mouth, a manic smile on his features.

She could see him look at her, glee in his eyes for a few moments as he continued to chew on the seed.

"Please." She whispered again, desperate to stop him, to stop all of this. But she couldn't stand. She didn't have the power to stand at all, she was just the weak human, held in place by biology and her own fear response at the sight of this manic and the insane man.

She could see his eyes widen and she sat up a little straighter in return, some of her fear starting to melt away. Maybe his body was rejecting the seed, or perhaps he had changed his mind, listening to reason.

And then she saw his eyes widen, something about them change, the proportions skewing before he fell on the ground writhing in pain as something that was more then likely something far beyond what they could comprehend took over his body. All she could do is let out another silent whimper as she watched Massimo slowly begin to lose himself to whatever was happening to his body.

Was this it?

Were these her final moments?

Was this how she was going to die? At the hands of this crazy man? She wondered as she watched in horror at the Druid in front of her writhed in what seemed to be in pain for a few moments before he became still. She could see his body convulse again before it lay still again for a few more moments before she heard the sickening cracking of bone as Massimo began to change.

She had to get out of here, she had to run, she had to escape from here from what was happening, from what was going on.

She needed to be strong. She needed to be strong.

She tried to move again only for her body to fall when she tried to stand, her legs unable to bear her weight.

She could hear the sickening cracking start again and she closed her eyes, beginning herself not to look at whatever was happening to Massimo.

She needed to be strong. She had to stand up.

Reaching out again she put her hand on the ground and began to push, slowly lifting her upper-body and hoping, begging that her legs would support her weight. But as soon as she rocked backwards to stand she fell again, her legs shaking, feeling numb to her.

Weak. Useless. Dead weight.

Just like she was and she always had been.

When she had manipulated by her brother, naïve for trusting him with those pipe bombs, thinking that he would make sure there were no people around when he set them off.

Just like she had been when she'd had to beg Bo to kill Nadia because she didn't have the strength to do it herself.

The countless times she had failed herself, Bo, the others.

Just like every time she had failed to save herself and had to let other people do it for her.

She heard the crunching sound stopping, and slowly she heard shuffling around her.

Loud, manic laughter echoed off of the walls for a moment before it stopped.

She curled in on herself and covered her face with her hands. She didn't want to look. She didn't have the strength to look.

"Hahahahaaha. Finally no one can stop me, no one can turn me down. No more weak human druid. No more rejection mother, now I am enough, now you will be proud of me!"

Not enough.

Not. Enough.

Just like how she wasn't enough for Bo, just like how she's not enough for herself, for anyone around her.

Always the scientist, always the doctor and always wanted for her brain but never for her as a person.

She could feel hear a whimper escape as she curled in on herself, hiding herself from whatever was happening on the outside.

"Oh what's the matter doctor? Can't bear to look at me? Can't bear to see what I've become?" She heard a voice say as she felt the ground tremble as footsteps got closer to her. She squeezed her eyes shut and allowed a small whimper to escape.

There was no reasoning with a mad man just as there was no reasoning with an all powerful being, and combine the two together and she was doomed to die, right here and right now.

"You know what I'm going to do now?" She heard that same manic voice ask as the footsteps got closer. She could feel warm breath against her ear for a moment before she shuddered and curled away. "Mother said she wanted the succubus dead, that she wanted her head, and I failed before. But now I'm all powerful, now no one can stop me. I will show you and everyone else how powerful I am, just how much I am not a laughing stock."

No.

Nobody gets Bo.

Nobody gets to hurt Bo. No one.

"No." Lauren heard herself whisper as she reached her hand out to push herself up off the ground.

"Oooh what's this? The little human doctor has some fight left in her after all does she?" She heard Massimo taunt as she heard him take a few steps away from her.

"No." She heard herself say, her voice resolute and much stronger then she felt.

But honestly if she could not find the strength to stand for herself then she would do it for the reason she always had. She would stand for the reason she always had even when the world seemed to be against her.

Bo.

And herself now. She stood for herself now as well. Taking a breath she pushed herself up and off the ground. Her legs trembling as they bore her weight, but she stood up on her own.

This time she would save herself, no more relying on Bo, no more relying on anyone else. It was time for her to save herself, and it was time for her to stop this bastard from harming the people she loved, from harming the woman that she loved.

She could hear clapping as she straightened herself out and opened her eyes. She wanted to gag at the sight in front of her. The grotesque and disproportionate limbs in front of her, twisted at angles she had never seen before without someone screaming in pain.

She could see his face, the burns that covered it distorting the features further then they already had been.

Everything about him looked wrong, it all looked disproportional and yet it still looked distinctly human. She took a breath and stood up. She needed to run, she needed to escape and get out of here.

She could feel something about the room change as she finally stood up fully, allowing her shoulders to roll back and her posture to relax.

She could feel something creeping in,. She could feel a sense of unease settle into her stomach as the air around her grew cold enough to cause her to shiver.

Rainer or the Pyripus.

Something had unleashed it.

The swallowing of the origin seed and something that Bo must have done.

She needed to run.

She needed to…

A shock ran down her spine when she realized what she needed to do. The place that she needed to go to and what her role was.

'The healer always by her side.' Her thoughts echoed back the line of the prophecy to her.

The coordinates that the drawing had shown, whatever that place was, the old sanctuary?

20:15 the coordinates that had shown and the map she had found. The old sanctuary that was there, it would hold the key to all of this, possibly to ending all of this. She needed to contact Bo, to tell her to meet her there.

They needed to end this once and for all, and she had a feeling that the key to ending it would be there, in that place.

She needed to get there now. But first…

She nearly screamed in pain as she fell again, her hand coming up to her side automatically. She looked up to see Massimo looking at her, the same manic smile on his face.

"Tut tut. Didn't they teach you to never turn you back to your enemy?" She could see Massimo smile at her again. "Someone may stab you."

She glanced down at his hand to see that he was holding a small knife. She could hear the whimper escape as another wave of pain hit her, causing her to curl in on herself at the force of it.

She could hear the laughter echo again, that same manic laughter as before broken only by a single sound.

Metal clanging against the floor.

Quickly she reached out and grabbed the knife only to have her hand stepped on with a boot the moment she tried to touch the knife. "It is the seed of all power foolish human, do you not think I can foresee what you will do and read your mind?"

"Monster." Lauren growled. Without thinking she moved her hand away from under the boot and grabbed the knife before she reached out to stab him in the leg. She could feel the knife meet a barrier, and for a moment she wondered if it would bounce back at her.

For a moment it was all silent, she waited to see if the knife would bounce back and stab her, to see if Massimo would start screaming in rage.

The knife didn't bounce.

She thought it would.

But it didn't.

Instead it sunk into Massimo's loosened flesh. She heard a brief scream followed by more manic laughter for a few moments before there was absolute quiet. When she looked up she could see that Massimo was starting to glow red and orange, his skin splitting as he… began to burn from the inside out.

Despite her injury she scrambled backward as she watched in awe as Massimo burned from the inside out. She could only watch in horror as he began to scream in pain and babble.

"This voice. I have heard it before… Hel… Hel! This is my powe…" She heard him let out one last earsplitting scream before he disintegrated into ash. For a moment she could have sworn she saw the shadow of a… horse… oh no. No.

The Pyripus, it had been unleashed, it had been unleashed, or it had escaped, something had happened.

She had to run. She had to get to those coordinates, she needed to find this place and she needed to find a way to stop this thing. She needed to stop this thing now.

She needed to stop Rainer as well… she needed to find Bo. She needed to find her now before Rainer betrayed her, before he turned his back on her.

If the Pyripus got a hold of Bo, if it managed to tap into her dark side.

There would be no bringing her back she realized as she stood, pressing a hand to her side for a few more moments before she pulled it away and leaned down to wipe it on the floor.

She could wait.

She needed to…

Either the warrior or the queen will die. The verse echoed in her head suddenly and forcefully.

She needed to find Bo, know! She thought as she stood, her entire body aching, her newly acquired wound throbbing. She hadn't been stabbed through the jacket, only the shirt.

She gasped when she took her first breath nearly doubling over as the pain echoed through her body, but she continued on, one foot in front of the other until she managed to get to the elevator.

She pressed the button, and leaned against the side of the wall, her legs starting to shake again as she glanced back down the dark hallway of Massimo's apartment building. She shook her head and reached out to press the button to call the elevator again, only for her hand to slip off the button as she tried to press it.

She could feel herself becoming dizzy and lightheaded.

Slowly she allowed herself to slide down the side of the wall as she waited for the elevator to come.

She allowed her head to tilt backward and press against the wall, taking deep breaths in an attempt to overcome the dizziness.

Reaching down she began to apply pressure to the wound on her side with her hand. She closed her eyes and took a breath as wave after wave of pain washed over her from touching the pierced skin.

She could hear a faint ding and a few seconds later she heard the sound of doors opening.

Taking a breath she pulled herself up, reaching over to put a hand against the fall as she slowly made her way into the elevator.

Reaching out to press the button for the ground floor she allowed herself to lean against the wall panting for a few moments before she slid down, her knees out in front of her, shielding her from the world.

Taking a breath she chocked on a sob as the tears started to fall, the reality of what had just happened hitting her hard.

She wanted to lay down and fall asleep, to escape from this pain and this suffering.

But I can't.

I have to hold on.

The origin seed was eaten by Massimo and who knows what the Pyripus will do with that body.

Be brave, and stand up.

Hold on for a little while longer.

Get through this alive and make sure Bo gets through this alive.

That's all that matters.

Be brave and stand up even if this is the last time you have to do this.

Slowly she rocked forward onto the balls of her feet, reaching out for the handrail in the elevator she pulled herself up, her aching body protesting the movement.

"Stand-up." She whispered to herself as she looked into the elevator's mirror.

She could still feel that chill in the air, the sense of doom and darkness that seemed to permeate the building, and not because it was so dilapidated.

Something had changed.

Something much more powerful then they could comprehend had been unleashed.

"Stand-up." She whispered to herself again as she looked up at the count for the floors.

"Walk forward one more time." She murmured to herself as a sense of dread began to creep up on her.

She glanced around the elevator taking everything in.

She had a feeling that something was about to happen.

Something that could go very very wrong.

She could hear the elevator ding as it arrived and when she looked out into the hallway she saw it was clear.

Reaching out she took her first step out of the elevator and onto a path that she could not walk away from.

A path that lead down the road of destruction and would spell disaster if it was not stopped, and could spell heartbreak if it was fulfilled.

But just like last time, and just like every time she would standby Bo.

She reached into her jacket pocket and for a few moments she fished around for a few moments before she felt the cool metal chain.

Smiling slightly she took a breath and began to walk forward towards the entrance of the building.

Once she was at the location she would have to call Bo.

Until then all she could do was walk forward one slow agonizing step at a time.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank-you so much for the favourites, the follows, and the reviews that were left behind I always love hearing your thoughts and your input. Thank-you for just taking the time to read this and giving this story 5 minutes of your day. I appreciate it so much so thank-you. **

* * *

Trying to reach the old sanctuary was a slow going experience that was primarily an exercise in her endurance and her ability to tolerate excruciating amounts pain as each of her limbs protested as they moved. Each step that she took was agony as the pain had echoed through her sore body and muscles, her side throbbing at each movement, and without a wall to lean on to support herself it was also very slow going for fear she would lose her balance.

When she looked up she saw the building that her phone's map had been showing her as matching the coordinates she had found on the ancient map. She smiled slightly in relief before shaking her head before she continued her slow walk.

She wondered what had happened, what was happening to all of this. The city was strangely quiet, when she looked over at the road she couldn't see any cars zooming by and she not run into another pedestrian on her entire walk across the downtown core.

She glanced up at the building again for a brief moment before she forced herself to keep going.

She needed to find answers and she needed to find as much information as she could on the Pyripus and on the origin seed and hopefully on a way to seal it back up without sacrificing Bo. She winced at the thought before she began to repeat her mantra in her head again as she nearly fell over.

Walk forward one more time.

Just one more time.

She needed to get Bo and herself out of this situation alive.

"Keep walking." She hissed to herself as she nearly fell over for the fourth time.

She glanced up again and nearly cried in relief when she saw that the building was only a few meters away from her. She would have run the last few steps but she would have collapsed. Taking a breath to try and calm her panting she smiled slightly and walked the last few paces forward.

When she reached the doors to the building that must have housed the old sanctuary, at least it did according to her phone, she had been rather surprised by how generic it had looked. Certainly not like it had housed the thing capable of ending the entire world.

Lauren took a breath and allowed herself to lean against the wall of the building, slowly sliding down it until she was sitting on the concrete sidewalk outside of the nondescript building.

She took another breath and removed her hand from her side, glancing down at the wound in her side, it was still oozing blood but it had slowed. She brought her hand up to examine it, only to see it covered it bright red blood as well as darker clots.

She could feel her breathing begin to return to normal and moved to wipe her bloodied hand on her jeans. The simple action caused another wave of pain to run through her body, causing her to let out an involuntary hiss as she touched the bruises covering her legs.

She glanced up and down the sidewalks again, turning her head slowly, deliberately so that she did not agitate her head or the muscles in her neck, back and chest with sudden swift movements. There was still not a soul in sight and it was beginning to scare her. Had something happened after she had been taken Massimo?

The creeping sensation that she felt and the chill in the air, if would be enough to drive many people to try and escape it. As she thought about it she felt an involuntary shiver travel down her spin, causing pain to flare through her body.

The chill in the air was still there as omnipotent as ever and it scared her greatly, but at the same time she had no ability to run, she could barely walk. She glanced around and then upward at the overcast sky, the weather had turned unseasonably cold suddenly and rapidly.

More then likely this ever present chill, the sense of fear that seemed to permeate the air, and now the unseasonably cold weather, it was more then likely the Pyripus. She shifted her body so that she was curled in on herself, her legs up in front of her chest. For a brief moment she wondered if she could curl up on herself enough would the world even notice if she was missing?

She winced when she shifted again, quickly reaching down to press her hand back over the wound, she needed to attempt to stop the bleeding, even if her hand was far from the ideal method. She hissed in pain as her palm made contact with the open and gapping wound on her side, but after a few moments she felt a little better.

She glanced up and around again, simply stopping for a moment and taking in the world around her. She just wanted to stay here, to stay out here sitting on the ground where she did not have to move around, where she did not have to be in pain anymore. She wished that she could just run, forget all of this and simply run.

Subconsciously she felt her free hand drift into her pocket. She felt her fingertips come into contact with the thin metal chain of the necklace and she sighed before she tilted her head back up towards the sky an ironic smile slipping onto her face.

She couldn't give up.

She couldn't just sit here.

She had someone to protect and if she stopped moving she could easily make a fatal error and allow something to happen to Bo.

She had to keep going.

Silently she reached her hand out behind her to rest her hand against the cold stone. Using it as a support she slowly rocked onto the balls of her feet, letting a gasp slip out as her knees forced her palm to dig into the wound. Slowly she stood up, allowing most of her weight to lean against the wall, if she collapsed she would most likely not be able to get herself up again.

And she had to keep moving forward, whether she wanted to or not.

There was so much more then her own life depending on this.

Keeping her hand on the wall in front of her she turned slowly and began making her way towards the entrance to the building. She could see the ramp coming up and the side and quickly she reached out to grab the railing, as the wall she had been using for support ended.

She walked up the incline rose slowly and steadily as she walked up it, the muscles in her calves and thighs aching in protest as she did. As she climbed she began to lean more and more of her weight against the cold slate grey metal. She glanced up at the beige exterior of the building again before she glanced back down onto the streets.

She would need to call Bo, although the odds of actually getting a hold of her seemed to be rather low at this point. She winced as she reached the top of the incline, panting slightly at the exertion and the muscles in her legs protesting as they bore the entirety of her weight again.

Slowly she made her way across the front of the building, reaching her hand out to use the columns she passed as support when she could. She could see the tall glass doors open as she got closer to them and she smiled slightly for a moment before she glanced around at the interior of the building as she passed through the doors.

Horses.

She turned around slowly attempting to find anything else, any other object, but all she could see were horses of all shapes and sizes, breeds, both real and imaginary.

"Where am I?" She whispered aloud before she pulled out her phone, quickly unlocking it she checked the map app to ensure that she was indeed in the correct building. For a while her gaze flickered between the screen of the phone and the room that she was in.

She had never seen so many horses in her life. Figurines on pedestals, sculptures, wall paintings, mosaics on the floor, carved into the columns, they were everywhere.

Silently she slipped the phone back in the appropriate pocket before she continued her slow walk across the lobby of the building and towards the elevators. Normally if someone was going to hide a creepy sanctuary of some kind they would do it in the basement. And the map she had access to had been old, it would be logical to assume that this building would have been built on top of the sanctuary that had once rested here.

She could also feel the fear, that was her ever-present companion, begin to creep up on her again, stronger then it had been when she had been with Massimo and she had experienced that initial burst. Now it felt as if it were a steady pulse, invading her senses and interfering with her thought processes. She shook her head and took a breath, wincing at the pain coming from the wound in her abdomen.

She needed to send a message to Bo, tell her where she was and what she was doing here. She glanced around at the walls again.

Hopefully this place would yield more then creepy images of horses.

Looking around again she pulled out her phone again and sent a quick text to Bo along with the address of where she was. She would have preferred to call her but at the moment there was no guarantee that she would pick-up, and she was not even sure if Bo had voice mail.

Smiling slightly she looked around again before she reached out to press the elevator's call button. Gingerly she leaned her weight against the wall as she waited for the elevator to arrive her legs beginning to shake as they continued to bare her weight.

She felt exhausted, her energy slowly sapping as she continued to bleed out, as she continued to refuse her body the rest she so desperately craved. She could feel her legs begin to buckle and she leaned more of her weight against the wall in front of her, the uninsured side of her upper body acting as the contact point between her and the wall.

If she allowed her legs to buckle, if she collapsed, she would not have the strength to pull herself back up again, and right now she could not afford to stop moving no matter what. So instead she allowed the majority of her weight to rest against the wall, one hand supporting her and the other pressing against the wounds attempting to stop the bleeding.

If it was still oozing after this long it must have been coated in some kind of anti-coagulant. She leaned her head against the cool stone of the wall, allowing the cold to soothe her overheated skin.

If she was already starting to run a fever then she would be screwed, she'd had no way to sterilize her hand or clean out the wound, and she doubted the blade had been clean, meaning that she was at incredibly high risk for infection. Not that it mattered at the moment given that there was not guarantee she would even survive long enough for infection to set in properly.

_Ding_.

She shifted her head slightly to look over at the elevator. She could see that it had arrived and with a grunt of effort she pushed herself off of the wall and walked the few paces to the elevator car, the door closing behind her movements later. Looking around at the inside she was delighted to see that it resembled a normal elevator car, no signs of horses in sight. When she looked over at the wall panel she could see a series of buttons indicating subbasements, but no sings of the upper levels.

Out of instinct she pressed the button forth e lowest accessible level before she allowed herself to slide down onto the floor, her legs finally giving out from under her.

At least this time she would be able to hull herself up using the hand rail that seemed to be all around her. She smiled slightly as she closed her eyes for a brief moment allowing her thoughts to drift for a moment before she heard an awful mechanical screeching.

When she opened her eyes again she could see that the entire back panel of the elevator had seemingly disappeared from where she could have sworn it was faux wood moments earlier. Now it was clears and she could see layer upon layer of rock as if rushed past her.

How fast was the elevator going? And how far below ground was she going?

It seemed like an eternity and all at once before she looked up at the LCD panel in the elevator, it telling her that she was only a few levels away from her destination. Reaching out and grabbing onto the handrail Lauren slowly pulls herself back up to her feet, swaying slightly from the change in altitude and blood loss.

_Ding_

A few moments later the doors opened and she made her way out of the elevator and into a vast cave. She looked around at it in awe as she caught sight of the iridescent green pillars, obviously more recent additions, providing the only light in the space. She could see a central dais and from around it jutted various spikes leading to more shafts like her own.

As she made her way across the walkway the mosaic in the centre of the dais came into view, a giant horse/unicorn in the centre with a smaller figure off to the side, it's eyes both brown and blue, and around the figure were other images, a man half shifted into what appeared to be a wolf form, a person dressed in armour with their sick to the blue-brown eyed figure, what appeared to be a Valkyrie swooping above them her bone white wings extended to their full span, an older figure off to the side sitting in a throne a crown on their head and finally beside the figure was a figure dressed in all white, what appeared to be Caduceus held in one hand and herbs in the other.

A wolf-shifter, a knight, a Valkyrie, an old king, and a healer, all surrounding this brown and blue-eyed figure. It had to be Bo and their group. As she got closer she began to see that there was more then one image in the central mosaic, in deed there appeared to be four, each of them depicting a stage or image of what looked like a battle, if she looked closely she could even see what looked like Massimo swallowing the seed, his body already encased in flames.

"How is this possible?" She wondered as she stared at the scenes playing out on the floor in front of her as she got closer and closer to the dais her breath caught as she saw the last image. It was of the knight and the healer, each one suspended on one side of what looked like a blue door, the figure with the brown-blue eyes looking on as if she was trying to decide between them.

As the centre of the dais finally came into view she could see wording on it, written in the same old language as the prophecy laid out in beautiful mosaic tile surrounded by the images she had seen.

"The one of dual eyes shall chose the fate of the world, through courage and sacrifice she shall save us or through defeat we all shall fall." She read aloud. "Okay… so Bo is going to chose the fate of the world." She murmured as she looked down at the ground. "That's a great idea make the person who rarely makes up her mind about anything decide the fate of the world."

She closed her eyes and took a breath

"Wait… dual eyes… not queen…" She murmured aloud. She tried to figure out how it was possible that Bo was referred to as the queen in one of the prophecies and not the other one in front of her. She shook her head briefly before she forced herself to continue to read on.

"Between the knight and the healer she must chose, her dearest friend or her queen. One shall chose, a sacrifice for the world, the other shall live on in peril."

Her mind began to run as the words spoken in the prophecy washed over her. Either the healer or the knight would have to be chosen as a sacrifice to the world. She glanced over at the final image of the healer and the knight suspended before the blue door.

Someone was going to end up dying.

But the last line, the healer… she thought that the other prophecy she had found said that the queen would die… wait… the healer was referred to as the queen. Bo's queen… and her healer. That made sense if the healer in the images was also the queen they were referring to but who was that?

Her.

It had to be her.

_I chose you and you broke my heart_. Echoed in her mind.

Bo was descended from the blood king, and by technicality she was a princess, but theoretically if she were ever to inherit Trick's position she would be considered queen. And the person she married, her consort, if it was her, then technically she would also be queen.

"Shit." She murmured aloud as she realized what that meant, either she or Rainer would die.

No wait…

Rainer was referred to as _warrior_ in the prophecy, but at the same time there was always more then one kind of warrior.

Dearest Friend.

The dual eyed one was Bo.

_Kenzi_.

She could feel her own eyes widen and her heartbeat pick up as she realized in horror what the prophecy lain out on the floor in front of her meant.

Bo would have to choose between her and Kenzi. Bo would have to choose one of them to sacrifice in order to save the world. And if Bo didn't then the world would end, he entire world would fall, collapse around them.

She gulped as her knees suddenly gave out, buckling in fear at what she had just read, at the realization that she may end up _dead_ before all of this ended.

That she may lose her life and at the hands of her lover, who had to make an impossible choice between her and Kenzi, her best friend in the entire world. She gulped again as she chocked back tears of anguish at the realization that soon enough one of them would most likely not live to see the sunrise.

_Between the warrior and the queen one of them shall die._

A knight was a kind of warrior, and if it was between the warrior and the queen who shall die? Then it was not between Bo and Rainer, it was between her and Kenzi. She nearly let out a cry of pain when she pressed down to hard on her wound, her hands having come to grip her stomach in an effort to comfort herself.

It looked like a few lines had been missing from her version of the prophecy, the ones that would have been the most important it would seem. Slowly she forced herself to stand back up, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

_Ding._

She tensed for a moment, ready to make a run for it as she looked up to see someone exiting the elevator. She nearly collapsed in relief again when she saw the familiar shape of Bo emerge from the elevator shaft, the adrenaline that had started to surge through her system leaving it.

She could see Bo look at her for a few moments before she saw Bo's facial expression change into what she thought looked like a smile. Forcing herself to stand up a little straighter she walked forward slowly in an attempt to meet Bo at some point between them.

"Lauren?" She heard Bo call out before she saw her take off rushing forward, smiling slightly she took a few steps back as she saw Bo approach her, eyes narrowing slightly before Lauren saw her nod to herself and pick up the pace, quickly closing the gap in between them. 

"Bo." she murmured as she saw Bo lean in close to her their breaths mingling for a few moments before she felt Bo's hand come up to grip the back for her neck. She felt Bo tug slightly and Lauren was more then happy to comply, smashing their lips together in a frenzied kiss.

She could feel Bo's other arm come and wrap around her waist, precariously close to her wounded side. Using her free hand. She reached down to grip Bo's arm, moving a little bit more to the right and away from her wounded side. Subtly she moved her hand away from her side and sipped them on her jeans before she brought it up to press Bo's hand to her neck, confirming that it had a right to be there.

She allowed herself to lean more into the kiss, trying to tell Bo how relieved she was to see that she was safe, that she was alive. When she pulled back from the kiss a few moments later all she could was a look of sheer relief in Bo's eyes.

"You're safe." She heard Bo say, her voice little more then a breathless whisper, as she pulled Lauren into a fierce embrace.

For a single moment Lauren allowed herself to be weak, to fall into the embraces she had been craving so much, the feel of Bo against her after so long of being apart. But she knew that it was tainted, it was the heat of the moment and the desperation that was so common between them. This was a dance she was all to familiar with, one they completed each time a cataclysmic event was about to befall them, this one moment of respite, their small calm eye in the middle of a storm.

As she felt Bo shift away from her, pulling back from the embrace ever so slightly she could see her face begin to transform from the look of calm happiness to one of worry and sadness as she took in the cut on her head and more then likely the bruises that were beginning to appear on her cheeks.

"What happened to you?" She heard Bo whisper as she pulled her close again, her hand shifting from it's place at the back of her neck and into her hair, cradling her head, almost as if Bo could shield her from the world. She allowed her arms to got and wrap around Bo's waist, pulling them flush with each other ass he realized the embrace she was being held in was real, wincing as Bo's body pressed against the wound.

"You're okay." She breathed out as she held Bo close to her, wishing that they could stay in this embrace for a few moments longer. But she needed to tell Bo what she had found, her knowledge about how to end this apocalypse before it truly rose, before whatever was going to end the world this time came into existence, before the Pyripus appeared and before whatever had burned Massimo's body came back.

"Bo." She murmured as she pulled back from the soothing embrace. "There's something that you need to know, about how to end this all." She could see Bo had tilted her head down, refusing to meet her gaze. "Bo, look at me please."

"They already told me, Trick already told me. And I can't. I won't. There has to be another way, one that doesn't involve me choosing between you and Kenzi!" She could see was becoming increasing stressed and increasingly agitated, and without thinking she leaned forward to press another kiss to Bo's lips in an attempt to calm her down.

She could feel Bo respond quickly as she began to kiss back, her world becoming a little more vibrant as they shared another kiss.

One, which could quite possibly be their last.

The necklace, she realized when she felt the pendant dig into her side as she felt Bo pull her closer, her arm digging wrapped around the side containing her pocket. She had been carrying it around with her for so long that at times she for got that it was there. It's lightweight and cool metal becoming her companion on her quest, at times her only companion.

It had never felt like the right time to give it to her before, and it still didn't feel like the right time to be giving it to her now, but at the same time she could sense that perhaps Bo needed it more then she did know. Perhaps this time it would take on another new meaning, a token of her love as it had always been, as well as a token of remembrance of her, of them and the short time they had together, a small drop in the ocean that was Bo's lifespan. A small reminder of both the painful and the good memories, and of the love she had once had for her.

Because she had a feeling that however this went down she would not be walking out of it alive.

Pulling back from the embrace slightly and breaking the kiss in the process she allowed one of her hands to leave its perch at Bo's waist and reach into her pocket silently, gently curling her fingers around the cool metal and allowing it to warm from the heat of her skin. Slowly and deliberately she pulled it out, trying not to tip Bo off on just how badly she was injured, and just how badly Massimo had hurt her, no one could afford for Bo to become distracted by anger and protective instincts.

The world needed its champion, the only one who could undo what she herself had brought about. The only way for Bo to makeup for the mistakes she had made and to prevent the world from being destroyed by a fiery giant and the embodiment of darkness and evil itself, in the form of a horse of all things.

She took a breath as she gently pulled her hand in between them, keeping her bloody hand resting against Bo's hip. She opened her palm and showed the necklace to Bo, whose eyes she could see widen in recognition as she held the necklace open to Bo in her palm.

"Lauren…" She felt Bo's grip on her waist tighten as she pulled her closer to her, if it was possible, she let a small gasp escape as a fresh throb from the wound sent a fresh wave of pain through her body. Smiling slightly she looked at Bo, whose eyes were tearing up as she looked at her.

Moving her other arm she brought her hand up to undo the clasp for the necklace, gently opening the small clasp she held it up to Bo. She could see Bo looking at her with teary eyes, begging her to tell her that the necklace meant something other then what she thought it meant.

She wished that she could reach out, to reassure Bo that this necklace was not a goodbye, that it was not a token to remember her by.

But she couldn't.

Because it wasn't.

Gently she brought up to face Bo, holding it carefully, silently asking her if she was okay with putting it on her.

She could see Bo looking at her with tears in her eyes, and in turn all she could do was small at her silently before she brought the necklace around Bo's neck, gently closing the clasp and allowing it to dangle between her breasts. She allowed her fingers to trace down Bo's sternum, fingering the pendant for a few moments before she looked up at Bo again before she looked away.

The necklace looked beautiful on her, just like she thought it would when she bought it. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Bo's cheek lightly. She could feel Bo tense against her and a few moments later she was pulled backward out of Bo's arms and against a hard chest for a moment before she was thrown violently to the ground.

"Massimo." She heard Bo growl and when she looked up she saw Massimo staring back at her his form restored to what it had been before he swallowed the seed, the grotesquely proportioned limbs returned to normal. But when she caught his eyes for a moment she could tell something was wrong, the madness she had seen in his eyes before was gone, replaced by why appeared to be serene calm, a slight pulse of yellow to them.

Whatever had caused Massimo's body to burn away had also apparently taken control of it. She could hear Bo growl as her eyes turned blue, she could see one of Bo's hands drifting downward to grab at the scabbard she hadn't noticed before.

A sword.

She hadn't seen Bo carrying a full-length sword in a very long time.

Not since their fight with the Garuda.

Quickly she scrambled backward and out of the way as she saw Massimo blast Bo with what looked like a siren's whistle, the air around it vibrating at the frequency it was being set off at. She could see Bo quickly dive out of the way, a smirk on her face.

"You might want to try better then that ugly. I spent years fighting with a siren and I picked up some tricks along the way. But you would already know that wouldn't you, since you killed Hale!" She heard Bo yell as she charged at Massimo, her sword coming out swinging, ready to impale him on her blade, only for her to miss, giving Massimo an opening.

Backing up until she was leaning against a pillar she reached up and began to drag herself upward, pulling her body up, hoping that he legs didn't give out on her.

Despite how scared she was, despite how much she simply wanted to get up and run she could not, she needed to find a way to help Bo, to help her at least temporarily injure him, give her time to get Bo and herself out of here.

So she pulled herself up with her last remaining strength.

She needed to help Bo.


	3. Chapter 3

She stood her legs unsteady, trembling as they bore her weight, the fear that was coursing through her body combined with adrenaline causing her to shake as she rose. She could see that Bo was struggling, and she had to wonder how much longer she would be able to hold.

She could see Massimo charge up another blast of the Siren's whistle before he charged at Bo with what looked like claws coming out of his hands. Tearing her eyes away from the battle for a moment she looked around trying desperately to find something that she could use as a weapon.

Anything.

But all around her the only things that she could see were pieces of mosaic, and the glowing green tubes around her, the only source of light in the room. As her eyes continued to dart around the room all she began to feel the helplessness creep in at the thought that she would be unable to help Bo, that she was alone in the fight against this person.

She heard the piercing sound of the whistle once again as she watched Massimo fire it at Bo. Quickly she looked around trying to find something, anything that could be of use to them.

But nothing was broken off, nothing was cracked or broken, nothing that would be of any use to them as a weapon. And she was not carrying any poisons or diseases with her at the moment, she only had the empty vial of the serum she had used on the Morrigan.

That was useless. It was to small and light to cause any kind of damage beyond a small amount of annoyance. She looked up again and what she saw caused her blood to run cold.

Bo was on the ground, a boot resting against her chest as she was pinned in place by Massimo's body, and he looked like he was gathering power, as if he was about to call forth that same whistle once again.

"Argh!"

Whatever that thing was it was only using Massimo, it was not him and Bo didn't know that he had swallowed the origin seed that he had all the powers of the Una Mens combined as well as apparently access to the powers of various Fae. She could see Bo finally landing at hit with her sword, a side swipe of the handle against his stomach before she saw Bo knee him in the stomach, causing Massimo and whatever was possessing him to drop to the ground.

"This is for Kenzi, and what you did to her. For making her suffer so much, for killing the man that she loved!" She saw Bo pull back the sword before she reached out and thrust it through Massimo's chest. She could see him struggling against her for a few more moments for her began to cough, blood beginning to dribble from his mouth as he began to bleed.

"You won't win succubus." She heard him say as he smirked for a moment before he coughed up more blood.

She could see Bo smirk her eyes glowing blue as she pulled the sword out of him, causing him to drop onto the ground, a hand pressed to his chest as he began to flop about like a fish. She saw Bo kick him in the stomach as she spat at him. "You don't deserve to live for the pain that you caused Kenzi, for daring to hurt Lauren."

Silently she watched for a few more seconds as Massimo's body flopped around before his movements stilled. She could see him looking up at them with wide glassy, unseeing eyes.

She could hear the clang of a sword falling to the ground before she felt a warm body press against her own, puling her into an impossibly tight embrace. For a few moments the only thing that escaped from her was a chocked moan of pain before she felt one of the arms around her waist move into her hair, pressing her as close to Bo as humanly possible.

"I'm safe Bo. It's okay." She murmured into the woman's ear trying to get her to loosen the embrace and soothe her at the same time. She couldn't imagine what was going through Bo's mind at the fact that the person who had murdered Hale had also attempted to murder her was finally dead.

Although she had to doubt that he stay dead for to long, given that last time when she had stabbed him in the thigh he had burned away, only to come back just now and attack Bo and herself. She brought her hands around Bo's waist, and simply pulled her closer for a few moments, simply relishing in the embrace.

A few moments later she felt the hand in her hair slip back down to rest against her neck, and she pulled her close, smashing their lips together again. Reaching up she allowed her hand to rest against Bo's wrist, pressing and holding the hand there, reassuring both of them that she was okay, that she was alive, and that Massimo had not harmed her more.

She could feel Bo pull her closer for a little while as she added more pressure to the kiss and Lauren responded in turn. When she pulled back she glanced over at Massimo only to see him coming up behind Bo and just as she was about to shout out she saw Bo fall backwards before Massimo's possessed body approached her a sick smile on his face.

She could feel the air around her begin to vibrate at increasingly high frequencies as she fell on her knees as her ear drums began to send waves of pain into her head, the frequency causing the edges of her vision begin to fade. The last thing she saw was Bo yelling what looked like her name from her place on the ground.

She could feel something or someone pick her up just before everything went black.

* * *

The clashing sounds of metal against metal are the noises that she awoke to. The clang of one sword against another, or at least that is what she had to assume based upon the racket that she was overhearing. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she opened her eyes, if she gazed upon the battle that was no doubt unfolding in front of her.

Would she see Bo? Or would she simply see everyone attempting to take on Massimo and whatever possessed him. If she gave away that she was conscious and aware it could cause issues in the longer term, strategic error, giving away the element of surprise.

But at the same time she could feel that sense of creeping fear and dread magnify by tenfold, an involuntary shudder running down her spin as a result.

The sound of metal clashing against metal, the brief echo of gunfire, followed by a very feminine and very familiar scream.

Bo.

She could feel her eyes shoot open as she realized whom the sound had emanated from and what it could mean. The sight that greeted her was strange and nauseating at the same time. Dozens upon dozens of women and men locked in combat with one another, some dressed in armour that invoked the image of a horse, and others dressed in garb she had only seen in the history books.

She tried to stand up, to get a better vantage point, only to realize very quickly that she could not stand, her arms bound behind her back and preventing her from rising to her feet by something exerting an outward pull on them. She began to struggle against the bindings, trying to break free from whatever was holding her in place, she needed to get a better look at what was happening, at what kind of danger they were all in.

"Doc…" She heard an all to familiar voice call out softly from somewhere near her. When she turned her head she could see Kenzi kneeling on the ground next to her, vines growing from the ground lashing her hand together behind her back.

"Kenzi… what's going on?"

"The final battle, the apocalypse if you like." She heard Kenzi mutter. When Lauren glanced back onto the battle field she could see Bo standing at the centre of it, her arms spread wide in an all to familiar pose, her head tilted backward and her veins pulsing that reddish-orange light as they had so long ago.

The darker side of her powers, but hadn't Bo…

"She's channeling the Pyripus, or her father if I understand right."

The Pyripus was Bo's father? She wanted to ask so many questions, wondering how that was even possible, but at the same time it made sense. Bo was so much more powerful then any of the Fae she had ever encountered, and her father being such a powerful being would make sense.

But there was one other question that was nagging at her as hse looked over at the younger woman beside her.

"What are you even doing here Kenzi?"

"I couldn't leave Bo, no matter how much I'm grieving, no matter how much I want revenge and no matter how much I miss Hale, am depressed and making bad choices, if my bestie needs me I will come back. And a certain wolf called and told me that they needed me, so I came back." She saw Kenzi say with a shrug.

"What about…"

"Possessed by some creature called Hel."

"And the Pyripus?"

"Channeling his energy through both Bo and Hel through the portal to his cell." She saw Kenzi tilt her head towards the blue door.

And suddenly it all made sense, the images that had been carved into the floor, the reason for the blue door next to the two figures made absolute sense, the blue door made absolute sense. The idea of a sacrifice made sense.

They needed someone to close the portal, and it required one of the two of them to do it. Probably because of their emotional connection to Bo, the feelings they have for her, the unconditional love and friendship they both feel for her, even if she didn't want to feel that way sometimes.

When she heard a crash she immediately ripped her gaze away from Kenzi and back to the battlefield. She could see Massimo attacking the same small group over and over again, the crashing thuds as one person after another dressed in armour fell to the ground. She could see Bo tilt her head back towards them, her eyes glowing a brighter blue then she had ever seen them in all the time that she had known Bo, even when she was in the super succubus state.

She could also see her stumble at times, as if she was unbalanced, and at others she could see the devious smile on her face, and if she strained she could hear the familiar multi-toned voice echo through the hall.

She could see Massimo had the upper hand, the superior numbers, he had every advantage that she could think of, and she was helpless, forced to stand down as she watched over lover slowly and methodically get beaten back by knights of superior strength and superior numbers.

She knew that the darker part of Bo's powers were more powerful, but at the same time, they also seemed to leave her more vulnerable. She could see that Bo was struggling, her eyes flickering back in forth in colour at times, the little she could hear had Bo's tone bounce back and forth between her normal voice and the one that echoed with power. She watched as Bo fell once again, knocked down by Hel-Massimo's whistle.

"Come back Bo! Just come back!" She tried to yell, only to find that her voice was caught in her throat, chocking back the tears of pain and fear as she watched the battle in front of her unfold Bo stumbling over once again as her veins pulse brightly for a few moments. The soldiers falling one by one as they were stabbed or drained of Chi, Bo seemingly fighting for control of her own body. There seemed to few people who belonged to Bo under Rainer's command left, fighting against the Hel possessed Massimo and his massive army.

And they were loosing badly.

She silently cursed as she watched another swordsman fall under the power of the female knights Hel had under his control. They had to find a way out of this, they had to find a way to break the energy supply to both Bo and Hel or else they might lose Bo forever.

She could see Bo's eyes glowing blue as thy pulsed with power gained from being so close to the Pyripus, to the place where it would very well emerge from. They needed to close the portal, and they needed to find a way to banish Hel…

_The one of dual eyes shall chose the fate of the world, through courage and sacrifice she shall save us or through defeat we all shall fall _

This was what the prophecy had been talking about wasn't it? This was when Bo had to chose, by cutting of the power supply from the portal and the gateway through which the Pyripus to return they would be able to save the world. To prevent him from channeling his power it the world and feeding it to Massimo, and risking taking control of Bo. But if the supply could be cut off and Bo could absorb that extra power, then she would have enough to defeat the thing that was essentially a god.

And it required her to chose one of them, more then likely to walk into that portal, offer themselves as a sacrifice to it in order to close it. She looked over at Kenzi

"If we can cut off the supply of energy from the portal to the crazy possessed druid then we should be able to stop him right?" She glanced over at Kenzi as she whispered next to her, standing, held in place by the veins which had more then likely been placed there under Massimo's control.

"Yes." She paused for a moment. "But Kenzi… closing the portal? It requires a sacrifice, it requires Bo to chose which of use dies and which one lives."

She could see Kenzi beginning to struggle against the vines, fighting to stand up. "She won't chose, we both know she would never be able to make that choice. So I'm going to make it for her and for you." She heard Kenzi mumble as she stood up, using a concealed knife she saw Kenzi cut through the vines and begin to walk she saw Kenzi pause for a brief moment and look back at her.

"Take care of her Lauren or else I will come back from the grave and find a way to kick your ass with my transparent foot for hurting my best friend." She could see Kenzi smile at her for a single brief moment. "She loves you Doc, so much more then she knows how to say, when you broke up with her she was convinced that it was a break and that you just needed time. She wants you and she chose you so take care of her and make sure you take better care of her heart this time m'kay? Even if that means you have to hurt her in at the start, she'll understand in the end."

She watched as Kenzi started to walk towards the glowing portal. She could feel the panic beginning to rise as she watched the younger woman slowly begin to approach to portal. She glanced over at Bo, and she could see that she was about to run forward, more then likely to try and stop Kenzi, but she could see Dyson come up behind her and hold her back.

She glanced over at Kenzi again; she was getting closer to the portal. What was she…?

Oh no.

No.

If Bo lost Kenzi…

If she lost Kenzi there would be no more Bo that they knew and loved. They would lose her, they would lose the succubus because without Kenzi there was no Bo, and not the Bo they knew and loved so much.

She could feel strength surging through her as she stood up, fighting for a brief moment against the vines before they snapped, the loose plant matter falling off of her wrists in a matter of moments. Taking a breath she forced her shaking legs to bear her weight, pressing one hand into her side when it throbbed in protest at her movements. She was aching all over, her entire body sending echoes of pain as she forced her muscles to work, straining them once again despite her injuries.

She had to stop this.

She had to stop Kenzi.

Bo would be able to survive without her but she would not be able to survive without Kenzi.

Without her sister, her best friend, and so much more.

Dyson would lose himself without Kenzi, without that little human's influence he would become what he had been before. The sullen despondent wolf without a sense of humour, without an ounce of warmth or kindness, without any sense of the humanity he had started to develop.

Without Kenzi their entire little group would start to fall apart.

But nobody would miss her. They would mourn yes, but eventually they would move on and recover.

She took a breath as she realized what she had to do, what was about to happen to her.

So much for get out of this one alive.

But her first priority for a long time been and would be until Bo's health and well-being. And keeping Bo alive here meant keeping Kenzi from sacrificing herself to close the portal because they both knew that Bo would never be able to choose between them.

So Kenzi had made the choice for her.

And now she was about to make a choice for them all.

She removed her hand from where it was pressed against her wounded side. There was little point in attempting to support or stem the flow of blood to the wound that would not kill her.

She took a breath as she glanced over at Bo and smiled.

I'm sorry.

I love you.

But you'll be able to live on without me. We all know that you won't survive without Kenzi.

Goodbye my queen.

Goodbye my love.

She glanced over at Bo one last time, who was struggling in Dyson's arms desperate to try and break free in order to save her best friend. She could see the necklace still fastened around her neck, swinging as she struggled against Dyson's larger frame and superior strength.

She smiled a little bit at the sight of it swinging around. At least Bo would have that much, at least that present she had been holding onto for so long had finally made it to the person it was meant for.

At least there would be something of her that would survive in the form of that necklace, something that would be able to remind Bo of how much she had done for her, how much she had shown her and how much she had taught her. Those words that she had written so long ago and just how much she had meant them.

_For giving me the freedom to love. _

_And I do. _

_Forever. _

She closer her eyes and took a breath, taking a moment to gather her strength, as she would push her body to the limit one last time. When she opened her eyes again she focused her gaze on the portal in front of her and Kenzi.

And then she took off. Slowly for the first few steps before she began to push harder. pushing herself to the limit as the world around her began to blur, her gaze singularly focused on Kenzi and the portal.

She dodged passed the soldiers and what looked like priests on second standing around, their weapons drawn but lowered, and in front of her as they watched the tiny human, the fighting seemingly having ceased the moment Kenzi broke her vines, approach the portal.

Everything was aching as she pushed her beaten and bloody body to its limit, the wound on her side was sending out waves of pain. But still she pushed on. She had to get there in time, she needed to save Kenzi even if it was the last thing that she did, even if it was the last thing that she could do.

She could see Kenzi getting closer and closer to the portal, that hellish blue light that was so similar to Bo's blue eyes when she used her power.

As she got closer everything began to slow down as the adrenaline surged through her.

She could see Kenzi was beginning to get closer to the portal, ready to push her body through it, and close the portal with her sacrifice.

She reached out and shoved Kenzi to the side, she could see the younger woman's eyes widen as she fell to the side out of the way of the portal. She could feel her own momentum carrying her directly into the portal.

As she fell in she could feel the pain surge through as she turned around, she smiled at Bo weakly one last time. She could see Bo's mouth was open, calling out something, but she couldn't hear it. She couldn't hear anything.

All she could feel was the pain surging through her body, the absolute excruciating pain that passed through her as the portal took her offer of herself as a sacrifice. She could feel something pushing against her from one end as something tried to crush her from the other.

She wished that she could scream.

She wished that she could escape from this mind-numbing pain as it felt like she was getting run over, her every bone crushed, her blood boiling and freezing at the same time. What felt like lightning crossing across her skin as her muscles began to spasm. She could hear her heart beating erratically in her ear as her body was torn apart from the inside out as the portal sapped her energy looking or whatever it needed to close the portal.

Finally, Finally everything began to fade, the light around her starting to grow dim as her eyes started to droop. She could feel the thing pushing against her back getting weaker and weaker as the portal started to seal itself once again.

A moment later she felt a strong push as she fell backward, her head hitting the ground as she fell backward.

She could feel herself fading rapidly and she could feel the little pain that she was feeling fading, her brain releasing massive amounts of chemicals as it began to shut down.

She smiled slightly, at least it was over, at least everyone was safe, Kenzi would live and by extension Bo would eventually be able to recover.

She nearly gasped when she felt something shifting her, lifting her up. She tried to blink open her eyes only to be met with blurry colours and blobs, she could not tell anything apart.

"Lauren?" She heard a voice whisper softly, and in turn she smiled slightly at the familiar voice, it was soft and distant, worried, but familiar and filled her will love and warmth.

"Bo." She breathed out as she felt her head being shifted to rest against Bo's chest, her strong heartbeat filling one of her ears and she smiled slightly at the warmth against her cold skin.

She felt cold, so cold.

"I'm right here Lauren… I'm right here."

"Be strong." She told Bo. And for a brief moment she thought that she could feel something wet hit her cheeks.

"Lauren please." She smiled slightly and for a moment she could have sworn she felt a tear escape from her own eyes.

For a few more moments she treasured the warmth she felt seeping off of Bo's skin and into her own before those sensations began to fade.

Her body was beginning to shut down as her senses began to fade one by one.

If she opened her eyes it would only lead to black.

She could no longer feel Bo's skin against her own

She was struggling to take any breaths.

She could literally feel her heartbeat beginning to slow.

She needed to tell Bo, she needed to tell her that she loved her one last time.

There was so much more she wanted to say and so much more that she wanted to tell Bo, but she couldn't.

There was no coming back from this and she hoped that Bo understood that. She needed to chose the world, not her.

"I lo-" She started to wheeze, unable to catch her breathe enough to speak. She wasn't even sure if she was talking anymore or not.

She was so tired, she just wanted to give in to the tugging at the edges of her consciousness.

I'm sorry. She thought as fuzziness settled into her brain.

I love you so much Bo, and I'm so sorry that we wasted so much precious time, so much precious time and energy.

For a brief moment she saw a flash of what she had once hoped their future would look like. Bo holding a little brown haired girl, who looked so much like the woman holding her, on her hip, a pair of rings on her finger, and a huge brilliant smile on her face.

She could see both of them smiling at her and she almost felt herself smile back.

If only.

If only they would have had this chance.

Everything faded to black.

* * *

"Lauren?" Bo whispered as she felt Lauren go limp in her arms. Gently lifting her a little more so that she was resting against her chest she brought her free hand up to tap Lauren on the cheek lightly trying to get her to wake up.

"Come on Lauren. This isn't funny." She murmured as she touched Lauren's cheek again trying to wake her up.

"Lauren please wake up. Please just fight for a little longer." She whispered as she hugged Lauren closer to her tears starting to leak out of her eyes at the sight of Lauren's beaten and bloody form.

"Lauren please." She called out a little louder, lightly slapping Lauren's cheek, trying to get a reaction out of her, any reaction out of her.

She could not lose Lauren, not here and not now.

"Lauren!" She yelled as she lay her back down on the ground, quickly shedding her jacket to support Lauren's head. She reached out and slapped her cheek again, but it only caused her head to lull to the side.

"Lauren!" She yelled as she shook her on the ground. "Come on!"

"Bo." She heard a low voice call out softly.

"BoBo." She heard another higher voice call out.

"No!" She yelled looking up at Dyson and Kenzi. Before she turned her attention back to Lauren, shaking her, slapping her cheek lightly, trying to wake her up, trying to get her to take a breath.

"I'm sorry Bo." She heard Kenzi say as she felt an arm come to wrap around her shoulder, pulling her closer to her best friend. She could feel another arm wrap around her shoulder as she knelt next to Lauren in the rubble of the ruined temple.

She shrugged off the arms around her shoulders and leaned down to press a kiss to Lauren's cheek whispering. "Come on Lauren please just wake up, just take a breath, do something so I know that you're alive. Please." She whispered as she pressed her forehead against Lauren's. "If I lose you… I won't…"

"Her heart's not beating Bo." She heard Dyson say and when she turned back to look at him she could see his own eyes were misted over. She looked over at Kenzi who had tears running down her cheeks as she looked on.

"She's not… she can't be… she can't…" Bo murmured shaking her head rapidly. She had to do something, she had to try and bring Lauren back… but… there was still…

She looked down at Lauren, other then the cut on her forehead she looked like she was asleep.

Like all those nights they had spent curled together in their beds.

But Lauren weren't going to open her eyes again.

She leaned down and pressed her forehead against Lauren's as she began to cry, calling out and begging Lauren to breath in between sobs.


	4. Chapter 4

Dyson watched as the person he loved sob against the chest of the person who had become what was probably the closest thing to a sister that he would ever have. He could feel someone lean against him, and in turn he felt his arm wrap around the small body automatically.

"She saved me." He heard a voice whisper, a small sad voice from a woman who was normally so strong, so much stronger then any of them could ever have been. "She pushed me out of the way and she saved me. She knew from the start. She knew right from the moment she pushed me out of the way what would happen to her didn't she."

Dyson sighed as he pulled Kenzi against him, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over as he watched the person who was the love of his life, the only woman to ever hold his heart truly and fully, sob into the chest of a woman who was dead. He could feel his heart ache in turn as he watched her.

He watched silently as Bo collapsed into Lauren's chest, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. He could see her clinging to her, her face buried in her chest, one hand gripping her shirt, the other one gently resting against her cheek.

He had never seen her like this, not even when she had lost Trick had he seen her like this.

He could feel his heart constrict as he watched her, in so much pain.

"Lauren please…" He heard Bo beg before her voice cracked again and her shoulders began to shake again. He could feel Kenzi trying to move away from his side but gently he held her in place.

He could hear the sounds of the soldiers rising up again and he knew that in a minute Bo would have to get up and fight and she would have to the be the champion, the person they all needed her to be.

But for now she was a lover mourning her…

Whatever Lauren had been to Bo.

"I need to… we need to get her away from Lauren's… I should..." He could feel Kenzi chock up and gently he rubbed her back. He could feel his own cheeks becoming wet as he watched the scene playing out in front of them and he could also feel a part of his shirt becoming damp. Gently he rubbed Kenzi's back as he pulled her closer to his side trying to comfort both of them as they watched one of the most important people in their life break down.

"She needs this… she needs to cry this out because in a minute she is going to have to get up and save the world." He could feel Kenzi struggling against his grip and after a moment he simply let her go.

She could see Kenzi run over to Bo kneeling down beside her and resting her hands against Bo's shoulders. He could see Kenzi trying to pull her away from Lauren only for her to shrug her away.

"Bo? Come one BoBo…" He heard Kenzi murmur as she tried to guide Bo to stand-up or to at least move away from Lauren. "Do you think this is what she would have…"

"I love her Kenzi. I love her and she's dead."

And in that moment it hit him.

_I loved you._

So this was it wasn't it?

This was what had happened and this was when she realized it wasn't it?

Or had he just been to blind to see it all along? He had to wonder as he watched Bo cradle Lauren's body to her. Sobbing into her chest as it if was the end of the world.

Alright so it was the apocalypse.

He had to chuckle slightly at that thought and for a brief moment he wanted to turn around and talk to Lauren, to talk to Hale.

But he couldn't.

Because they were both dead.

He clenched his hand into a fist and allowed his nails to dig into his palms, hoping that the pain would distract him from the scene in front of him and the ache that was settling into his heart as he watched the brunette woman cradle the blonde. The brief glimpses he could catch of her eyes speaking of devastation and torture that he could not even begin to hope to understand.

Bo had just lost the love of her life and had nearly lost her best friend in the process.

And suddenly he was awakened from his thoughts by the heavy footfalls of solid boots hitting the ground. The sounds of the beginning of the clashing of swords.

The din of battle was starting up once again. The ancient sounds so familiar to his ears, so engrained into his being. He could feel his nature's call to join in the battle, to spill blood and to appease his gods, to fight to restore the natural order.

He glanced back at Bo before shaking his head, she was still sobbing.

"I can give her a little more time Kenzi, but you need to get her to stand up. You need to get her to fight to save the world because…" He could see Kenzi nod slightly before he took a breath as he began walk towards the battle, allowing his inner nature to surge forth, for the animal within him to take form partially.

* * *

"Lauren." Bo whispered as she allowed the tears to fall as she continued to sob against Lauren's chest. She could feel hands come to rest against her back again and she shrugged them off again.

She didn't want to get up, she didn't want to stand up.

God how could she have been so stupid?

Stupid.

Maybe she could…

Slowly lifted herself up, using one arm to support herself and with the other she shifted her body forward, allowing her weight to press against Lauren's torso. And for a single second she wondered if she would hear a pained groan escape from Lauren.

But there was nothing.

It was silent.

Slowly she leaned down and pressed her lips to Lauren's for a brief moment. She wished that this was not one of their last kisses, that this was not one of their last times. She wished that their last kiss had not been moments before they were ripped apart, that it had not been moments before they had been torn apart.

But maybe she could save Lauren.

Slowly she began to breath Chi into Lauren. She could feel herself growing progressively weaker only for power to surge forth from deep within her. Something that felt dark, something that felt cold.

But it was also oh so seductive and oh so potent.

She could feel something surge through her, a new kind of anger. Blinding rage.

But mostly it was the power that was surging through her.

The power that she had not control over.

She knew that with this power she could save Lauren, she could bring her back from death, and they could rule together side by side forever. She could change Lauren, make her Fae, make her immortal, make them both immortal. They could rule together forever, and then there would be nothing stopping them from being together, nothing that could stop them from being together.

"Bo!" She heard a voice cry out. "Bo you need to come back!"

_Be strong. _Lauren had told her.

Before she could have even told that she loved her. Lauren never even got to say that she loved her one last time and she never even got to say "I love you" to Lauren one last time.

And now she had the chance to save Lauren. She had a chance to bring her back and to let them start over, to let them live, to give them a chance to be together.

But at what cost?

At what cost?

_The one of dual eyes shall chose the fate of the world, through courage and sacrifice she shall save us or through defeat we all shall fall. _

That one god damn line of the prophecy.

Through courage and sacrifice she shall save us all. Courage and sacrifice.

"Courage isn't the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important then fear."

Where had that quote even come from?

Probably Lauren or one of those crappy TV shows Kenzi had made her watch.

Lauren… it came from Lauren.

That one time… curled up in bed.

Before everything had gone south, before it had all turned bad.

It had been something that Lauren had read aloud when she thought she had been asleep. It was one of the few times Lauren hadn't been reading a medical journal or a paper on Fae of some kind or another. She had been curled up in Lauren's lap that night, dozing as she played with her hair.

She had read it aloud as she had played with her hair, and for some reason it had stayed with her. But she couldn't remember those words until now, until she needed them.

Sacrifice.

Lauren's sacrifice and her own.

She had nearly lost the person who was her heart.

And lying below her was the person who was her soul, who without Kenzi was her reason to live when she didn't have the courage to do it herself.

Courage and sacrifice.

She had to sacrifice Lauren, she had to give up on the hopes and the dreams she'd had for them, for their future no matter how short it would have been.

The idea of kids and the picket fence, of traveling the world and exploring with Lauren. Of simply living her life with Lauren.

She had to let it go.

She had to let this woman who meant the world to her go.

Because there was something that was so much more important then Lauren, then her small little world.

She had been so selfish lately. So concerned with herself.

So she needed to sacrifice her dreams and her small little world of only her and Lauren in order to save the larger world.

The larger cruel unforgiving world.

She had to save that world, that stupid and undeserving world that had taken so many things from her, she had to save two worlds, one which had raised her and one which she belonged to. She had to choose the world.

As much as it would hurt her, and as much pain as it would cause her tomorrow and all the days after she needed to "be strong" as Lauren told her.

So she pulled away, breaking the supply of Chi to Lauren and breaking any chance that they would have had of bringing her back. She allowed herself a brief moment to press her forehead against Lauren's bringing her hand up to cup her cheek for a moment before she ran two knuckles over Lauren's cheek.

"Be strong and stand up right? Be the person you need us to be? That's what you would say to me isn't it Lauren?" She murmured before she leaned down to press a kiss to Lauren's forehead.

"Bo?" She heard Kenzi whisper as an arm came to wrap around her shoulders. Taking a breath she shrugged it off again.

"I'll save the world Lauren. I'll be the champion that they need, that everyone needs." She whispered as she fought back tears, trying to calm herself as she pulled herself up and away from Lauren. She allowed herself to rock back on her knees and she turned her head back towards Kenzi, who was looking at her with tearstained eyes, her make-up running.

Reaching over Bo allowed her hand to rest against Kenzi's cheek for a moment, using her thumb to brush away the tears that were leaking from her eyes. Despite it all she allowed herself to smile briefly at the younger woman who meant so much to her, who after all this was over would be the only one able to drag her out of whatever hole she would fall down.

"I love you Kenz. So much. So much more then I can say and you mean so much more to me then I can tell you Kenz." She could see Kenzi starting to stand up before she reached out her hand and offered it to her. Smiling Bo reached out and allowed herself to be pulled up.

Reaching over she grabbed Kenzi and pulled her into a tight hug before she pulled back and looked over the younger woman, smiling at her. "I am so proud of you and of the person you've become Kenz."

"Bo. You're going to be fine but you need to go, you need to fight." She could see Kenzi pointing out into the battlefield. The bloodbath that it had become.

Fallen soldiers from both sides littering the field.

She could see lone figure fighting off an army of warriors, and further back she could see Massmio beginning to rise once again.

Or maybe what had once been Massimo would be better?

Because it sure as hell didn't look like him anymore.

She could feel that power that had surged through her moments earlier return, offering it's energy to her. Offering it's power at a cost.

Those same thoughts filling her head once again.

"Your eyes." She heard Kenzi whisper.

Taking a breath she fought back the power as she put herself between Kenzi, Lauren and the battlefield.

It was time to end this. It was time to take revenge and to end this.

The source of Massimo's power had been cut off. The portal to the Pyripus had been cut.

And all the energy left must have transferred into her.

"Kenzi… run." Bo shouted as she began to walk towards the battlefield, stopping for a moment to pick up the sword that she had dropped in her rush to get to Lauren.

"I'm not leaving you and Dyson!" She turned around to see the stubborn young woman bending down to pick up an errant piece of wood. She shook her head and smiled before she bit her lip in an attempt to suppress the voice that was rising up, the power that was shooting through her.

She needed to stay in control or she would fall.

And if she fell then the world would fall with her.

She glanced down at Lauren before she took a breath and looked back at Kenzi. "You are my heart Kenz. I've already lost my soul and whatever pieces of my heart that you don't have. I can't lose anymore. And I'm going to lose control in a minute." She murmured as she pulled the younger woman into a hug quickly.

"So I need you to go in there, to grab Dyson and to run because I don't want you in the line of fire. Okay?" She asked as she gripped Kenzi's shoulders.

She could see Kenzi look up at her, defiance in her eyes, a burning desire that she hadn't seen since Hale died. "You'd better come back alive Bo." Kenzi said as she poked her in the chest. "Because I just lost the love of my life, I can't lose my best friend to."

Smiling Bo nodded. "Grab Dyson and run. I'll try and distract them as best I can okay?"

"Remember that we love you Bo. No matter what we love you, so come back to us." She heard Kenzi yell before she ran off into the battlefield, right into the middle of the fray. Taking a breath Bo followed her a few seconds later.

The moment she emerged from the somewhat sheltered platform she was greeted with the sights and the sounds of the battlefield.

She could see thousands upon thousands of soldiers, all in different uniforms, fighting against the few that were left of the numbers she and Rainer had had. She slowly walked towards the centre of the battlefield, trying to ignore the sounds of clashing swords, the sounds of bullets, the screams of pain and of the dying.

She walked around them all, her sword brandished, but none seemed to be attacking her, they didn't seem to even be paying attention to her. She could see in the distance Dyson and Kenzi surrounded.

She averted her gaze a few moments later as she continued to walk towards the centre of the field. She could see Massimo slowly beginning to stand-up, one hand at his side.

She could feel the power surging through her as she dropped the sword, spreading her arms and tilting her head backward, allowing the feelings that always followed this part to fill her. But this time she fought back the darkness that surged forth with the power.

She could remember the first time that this was triggered, the reason that this power activated for the first time.

It was to save Lauren.

One piece and perhaps the most important piece of _her world_.

She had lost control then.

But this.

This time _she _would be control.

This may have been her father's power's originally. Her blood maybe the source of her darkness and her father may be the source of whatever was surging through her.

It was no one's power.

But the moment it merged with her.

It was hers.

And this time she would save _the world_.

Because her world had already crumbled, it was crumbling around her just like the pyramid behind Massimo was crumbling.

But the world still stood a chance.

Everyone else's worlds still stood a chance.

She opened her eyes and her mouth, allowing a smile to slip onto her face as she inhaled, calling the Chi in the room to her.

She could feel her blood beginning to sing as she called the power towards her. The darkness within her fighting for control.

It was so tempting to just give in. To let that darkness take control and to finish the job, to take revenge on Massimo, on the powers that he wielded.

For the pain he caused Kenzi.

For everything he had done to Lauren and for causing her to have to sacrifice herself in order to save them all.

But she couldn't.

She could feel the power beginning to pulse through her as the Chi reached her, allowing her to inhale the first dredges of the power.

It tasted stale.

Dead.

But so powerful.

So. So. Powerful.

So. So. Dark.

She could feel power pulse through her and rebound out into her limbs, distributing it throughout her body. She could see the soldiers around her beginning to collapse, the swords they held in their hands clattering to the ground with the sound of metal on concrete.

She could hear two pairs of footsteps thundering against the concrete and she smirked to herself slightly.

Kenzi and Dyson had gotten away.

Good.

She slowly closed her mouth as the last of the Chi entered her. She could literally feel the power thrumming through her as she looked over at Massimo, she could feel a smirk settle onto her face as she looked at him, only to see him disappear.

A moment later she felt something connect with her back, pain exploding from her spin as she fell to the ground. She could feel a hand come down on her head, a knee hitting her already injured back.

She could feel something surge through her as she struggled against the hold Massimo had on her. "Why don't you just quietly go to your death succubus? Join your human lover?"

A growl escaped from Bo as she turned struggled against him for a moment before an idea struck her. She began to pull Chi again, trying to draw Massimo's from him, only to feel the pull in reverse moments later.

She began to thrash as she reached for her sword only to feel another hand press down on her reaching hand.

"Ah ah ah. Were you going to try and stab me honey? I don't think you want to do thank BoBo. " She could practically hear the venom in his voice as he spoke cutting off his Chi intake. She could feel him shift the weight against her back, beginning to crush her. The hand that was holding hers at the wrist cutting off the circulation, making it go numb.

She could feel a growl escape as she struggled against him before her free hand came into contact with something. "You should just give up succubus. I can end it quickly and you can join your lover. Just have to let the world fall, that's all. I can end it in seconds."

The wooden branch Kenzi had been holding earlier she realized as she felt the familiar texture of wood. "Are you sure Massimo? Are you sure?" She asked as she gripped the branch before she swung it at his head.

A moment later she felt the force of the branch connecting with his skull and at the same time she could hear the sickening crack of something breaking. Moments later she heard a scream of pain as the pressure on her back eased, the hand on her wrist and head moving. Quickly she scrambled out from under him, dropping the branch in the process as she stood up.

She reached out to grab the sword before her momentum failed and caused her to crash to the ground again. She gasped at the impact onto the hard concrete of the ground, her grip on the sword tightening.

She could feel a weight settling against her abdomen and when she looked up she could see Massimo grinning down on her as he straddled her. "You really shouldn't have done that." He whispered as he leaned down until they were almost face-to-face.

She could feel him trying to pull at her Chi again before she felt a hand on her chest, over where the mark had been placed.

Suddenly she felt something pulse through her as she tried to buck him off of her.

A darkness surged through her.

It's energy, it's power so strong and so seductive.

So tempting.

"If you join me I can make you strong, stronger then you've ever been." She heard a voice whisper in her mind.

_No!_

"You would be able to save your lover." It's sweet seductive voice whispered in her mind.

She froze in that moment as she stopped struggling, visions beginning to assail her mind, Lauren standing beside her a crown on her head, a huge beautiful smile on her lips.

Another of Lauren holding a small blond toddler on her hip. "Mama!" She heard the small girl's voice cry out in delight.

A house.

A job.

Immortality.

The world at her feet and the dreams she wanted so desperately.

Kenzi by her side, safe and ever young.

Dyson her loyal knight and general.

Tamsin standing bright and strong in armour she had never seen her in before, her wings spread behind her full and strong.

Lauren smiling at her, white robes wrapped around her, two snakes intertwined weaved onto them.

Trick smiling at her, books in hand an old crown on his head. His posture more regal then she had ever seen it.

Herself, a simple circlet on her head, everyone else bowing around her.

Cities burning.

People running.

But ultimately happiness

No more light and no more dark.

Just her.

_Be strong. _

_Remember we love you no matter what. _

_I'm so proud of the person you've become Kenz…_

_Kenzi find Dyson and run. _

Lauren.

"I love you Bo and you have to be strong."

Strong.

Give up her world to save everyone else's.

Suddenly she felt something move against her neck.

Something cutting off the contact between Massimo's hand and her chest.

A little piece of metal.

_For giving me the freedom to love. _

_And I do. Forever. _

_-Lauren. _

Free.

Everyone deserves to be free until the end of it all, until they chose their own ending, or they chose to belong to someone, to tie themselves down.

But the world can't burn.

It can't be ruled.

"NO!" Bo yelled as she reached out and grabbed her sword, angling it upward and stabbing Massimo through the chest.

And a few moments later she felt a body collapse on top of her own, the heavy weight of it and her sword digging into her abdomen. She could feel Massimo gasping for breath on top of her for a few moments before he stilled.

Quickly she pulled herself out from underneath him, standing on legs that had begun to shake severely as she looked around. All she could see were corpses, the dead bodies of both sides, of people who had once had families and friends.

She glanced down at Massimo, his dull eyes open and staring up at her lifelessly. She could feel her body beginning to tremble as she stumbled backward, whatever power had been surging through her leaving.

All around her she could see were corpses, seas of bodies floating in crimson red oceans of the blood that stained the concrete floor of the hall.

She stumbled backward and fell on her back as what she had done hit her.

Just how many people she had killed or caused to die.

So many lives needlessly ended.

Oh God.

Oh God.

She forced herself to stand up as the tears began to run down her cheeks as she surveyed the damage that she had done to this place. How much more could have been done to the world.

She forced herself to turn around and walk back towards Lauren, back towards the body of her lover.

She was planning on carrying her out, making sure that she was able to get a proper burial, but the moment she reached the body her legs gave out, causing her to collapse in a heap beside Lauren's body.

All she could do for a long moment was lie there and cry silently as she stared at the body of the woman she loved so much.

So much damage.

So many lives ended.

Slowly she forced herself up onto her hands and knees, crawling over to Lauren's body before she collapsed on top of her. She wished so much that she could feel Lauren's warm skin against her own, even if only for a brief second.

She wished that she could be alive, to tell her that she was not the monster that she felt so much like in this moment.

How was she able to end so many lives so callously? So cruelly?

Monster.

Her father was one.

Maybe she was one as well.

"Please…" She begged the tears in her eyes beginning to fall down her cheeks once again as she pressed her forehead against Lauren's. But instead of the warmth that she was so familiar with all she could feel against her skin was the coolness of death, Lauren's skin absorbing her heat, her warmth, but nothing came back.

She was cold when she was normally so warm.

So warm and so loving and so loved.

_Be strong_.

"Please." She whispered, an arm pulling Lauren's body close to hers as if she could shield her lover's body from the chaos and the destruction that surrounded them. Their only safe place, their island in a sea bodies that surrounded them.

But despite it all, despite her begging and he pleading, despite everything she had tried this was all that was left of her lover.

Only a body.

What had once been an incredible mind, a genius in so many ways. The insatiably curious human doctor.

The incredible, selfless woman who had loved her so much.

So much more then she deserved, so much more then she had ever deserved.

Who had saved Kenzi, her best friend, her sister, and her heart, at the cost of her own life.

And she had known.

Lauren had known what she was doing the moment she had broken her bindings.

She had known that she was going to die the moment she had taken off across this hall, the moment she had pushed Kenzi out of the way and charged into the portal.

She had known the entire time and yet she had done it anyway.

She held Lauren close to her as she leaned down to press a kiss to her lips one last time. They were slack as she moved her lips against those that were cold, firm, unfeeling, where they had once been warm, soft, responsive, and loving. She allowed her fingers to stroke along Lauren's cheek, feeling the cool skin under her fingertips where there had once been warm, soft flesh.

She pulled back from the kiss and moved upward in order to press a kiss to Lauren's forehead. She allowed herself to drift there for a single moment, suspended in time as she inhaled the scent of Lauren's hair for the last time.

As she pulled away she allowed her mouth to drift over to Lauren's ear, and for a brief moment she wondered if her breath would warm the skin of Lauren's ear, if somehow she could breath life back into this woman she loved so much. But she couldn't she realized as her breath continued to hit Lauren's ear.

She could only feel the cold press of Lauren's skin against her own. She allowed her face to press into Lauren's hair, her mouth covering the unhearing ear. "I love you."

For one instant, for one single moment she could have sworn she felt Lauren's chest rise against her own. But when her hand trailed under Lauren's shirt, reaching, searching for her heartbeat, she felt nothing.

No warmth

No signs of life.

Only cool skin, absorbing her heat and radiating none of it back to her.

Cool, rough, skin.

Not warm, soft, smooth, like she was so used to.

"Thank-you Lauren." Bo whispered against her ear before moving to press one final kiss to Lauren's cheek, her voice cracking as she spoke. "For letting me love you." She murmured as she closed her eyes.

"It was the greatest gift I could have had." She whispered as she leaned down to press one final kiss to Lauren's lips.

She was about to pull away when she felt a hand drift into her hair and an arm wrapping around her waist.

She felt lips moving against her own.

It couldn't…

She pulled away and but kept her eyes closed, willing this not to be a dream, that this was not some kind of she could feel the skin under her hand warming.

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump…. Thump. _

She could feel a steady rhythm underneath her palm.

She slowly blinked open her eyes, praying to whatever gods there may be that this was not a dream, that this was not some kind of dying dream or a hallucination. That her darkness had not taken over or that this was some kind of dream or an illusion that she had trapped herself in.

She allowed her eyes to open fully and when she did she could see brown eyes staring up at her. A look of pure disbelief in them as she felt a hand came to rest against her cheek, a thumb stroking it gently.

"Hi." She heard a weak voice croak.

She could feel a smile break out, as a feeling of absolute joy spread through her as a laugh escaped, the tears that had stopped beginning to cascade down her cheeks. She leaned down and captured Lauren's lips in a fierce kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank-you so much for all of the favourites, the follows, and the reviews. The kind words mean so much to me and I thank everyone who had taken the time to leave their thoughts and I am so glad that people enjoyed the story. This is the final chapter of Sacrifice unless people really want to see the love scene that was hinted at at the end of the chapter. **

**P.S. The poem is Song of Myself by Walter Whitman. Blame a certain fandom and 15 second binary encoded teasers for this poems appearance in this fic. **

* * *

Bo laughed again as she broke the kiss between them. She couldn't believe that this was real, that it was possible that this could ever be real.

But when she opened her eyes and allowed them to gaze into Lauren's own she knew that this was real.

" 'o?" She heard a weak voice slur out the syllable. She leaned down to peck Lauren on the forehead before she pulled back slightly.

"Lauren. You… you're…" She couldn't help the laughter that escaped, the smile that was perhaps permanently glued to her cheeks. It actually hurt she was smiling so wide.

She could see Lauren's eyes staring into her own, half-lidded and exhausted looking. She could still see some disbelief in them but at the same time she could see a small smile creeping onto Lauren's own lips.

"M'live 'o." She heard Lauren murmur, her voice barely above a breath. " 'on't kn'w 'ow, bu' 'm 're."

"You sound like you're drunk Lauren." She laughed as she pulled back slightly, shifting so that she was supporting some of her own weight. She felt a hand come up and tap her on the chest in what was probably supposed to be a slap, but really it was little more then a feather-light touch.

Shaking her head in fondness she caught the hand with one of her own as it was pulling away bringing it up to press a kiss to it's palm before she pressed it against her cheek. She could see Lauren smile as she leaned down again to press her forehead against Lauren's, pressing a brief kiss to her lips in the process.

She felt so happy.

So so happy.

Lauren was alive and in her arms.

She was safe and she was alive.

They had both made it out alive despite the fact that everything had said that one of them would walk away dead.

Lauren was here and in her arms.

She was breathing.

She was warm and soft, and where their bodies were pressed together she could feel warm radiating into her skin.

She was moving against her, the small rise and fall of her chest, the palm resting against her check.

The thump of her heartbeat against her chest.

She was alive and warm.

She was just…

" 'y 'ry?" She heard Lauren mumble her words still sounded so slurred and she sounded utterly exhausted but still she couldn't help the smile that broke out once again when she spoke.

"Happy tears Lauren!" She laughed. "These are happy tears."

"'ad?" She heard Lauren mumble as Bo felt her thumb move back and forth along her cheek.

"Not anymore Lauren. Not know that you're alive."

"'ou w're 'ad? 'ss 'e?" She could hear the disbelief in Lauren's tone loud and clear, even before she was able to register what Lauren had actually said.

_You were sad? You missed me?_

And with those words Bo could feel her heart break.

How could Lauren even think?

How was it possible for her to think that she wouldn't be missed? That she wasn't one of the most important people in her life? That she wasn't going to be missed if she sacrificed herself.

Lauren had pushed Kenzi out of the way…

"Oh Lauren… how could you even think that? How could you think that you wouldn't be missed? That you wouldn't be missed?"

"'zi 're 'p'nt. 'm 'ss 'u l'e 'e y' 't 'zi e'rt," She could feel her heart breaking at the tone, at the sheer amount of disbelief in the first part of the sentence, before it switched over to finality. The words were so slurred, it was hard to make out what Lauren was saying even if you listened carefully but after a moment she

_Kenzi__'__s more important. I__'__m less, you love me yes, but Kenzi__'__s your heart._

"Oh Lauren. Of course you wouldn't know, of course you wouldn't know it's not like I ever acted like it but your right Kenzi's important to me, the most important person in my life. She's my heart Lauren. But you're my soul, my world" She could see Lauren's eyes close as she took another breath, she could hear a small groan escape from her.

It sounded like Lauren was in pain.

She wished that there was something she could do, that there was something she could do to take away her pain, but there wasn't anything she could do. She leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Lauren's lips.

"Are you in pain Lauren?" She mumbled as she began to push herself up and off of Lauren, most of her weight had been resting against Lauren and had still been when she had woken up. She could hear a small whimper escape as she moved herself up and off of Lauren, forcing herself to sit down on the ground next to Lauren.

"'arm." Well that was three letters, which was an improvement.

And what on Earth was Lauren trying to say? Lauren's inability to talk properly was starting to become a problem.

"Is that arm or warm? Seriously though you sound like your drunk or a toddler." She could feel the glare coming from the woman lying on the ground. She

"Ow! Hey!" She muttered as she glared down at the woman still lying on the ground. She could see the mischievous smirk on Lauren's lips before her eyes closed as she winced. " Lauren…"

"W'rm."

Okay so now it was either worm or warm.

Given that the first time Lauren had tried to speak it had come out as arm, warm was probably the better bet between the two.

"Okay I'm guessing that's warm and not worm?" She could see Lauren's eyes blinking open slightly a small smile on her face before her eyes screwed shut again. She could see that Lauren was in pain.

She glanced around at the room that surrounded them and bit her lip in order to try and fight back the urge to vomit at the sight in front of her, at the sea of bodies that lay sprawled around them. The little place where she and Lauren were sheltered was the only place not covered in blood and other body parts.

They needed to get out of here. Lauren probably needed rest and time to recover from what happened. She had come back from the dead, and she had now way of knowing what had happened to her while she had been in the portal, what damage it had done exactly.

Should she take Lauren to the hospital? Get her examined? When she looked down at Lauren she couldn't see any signs of injuries, but it was obvious that she was in pain. So maybe she was hurt?

Or maybe the portal had simply done a number on her and she was just exhausted, her body aching from… well being dead. If that was the case then she would probably be better off recovering in her own home, in her own bed.

"Lauren? I'm going to get us out of here but I need to know if you need to go to the hospital or not or if you want to go home?" She could feel a hand coming to rest against her knee lightly.

When she looked down at Lauren she could see a small smile flicker onto her lips, her eyes blinking open, but they remained half lidded.

"H'm. Pai' not 'ad. 'red." She heard Lauren mumble before her eyes closed again. She could see that Lauren seemed to be in pain, but at the same time she also seemed to be absolutely exhausted.

H'm.

Home?

"Home?" She asked as she leaned down to press a lightly kiss to Lauren's lips before she shifted herself backward. She could feel a hand come to rest against her cheek for a moment before it feel to Lauren's side again.

"'arm." Was the sleepy mumble that she got in reply.

"You're cold aren't you?" Bo murmured as she shifted onto her knees so that she could lift Lauren up. "I'm going to lift you Lauren okay? Take you home."

"H'm?" She could hear the weak and exhausted sounding voice almost happy.

Although there was one slight problem with her idea. Lauren had moved since the last time she had had to visit Lauren's condo and because they hadn't exactly been on a speaking basis before this happened.

Well…

"Lauren? I don't know where you live." The only response that she got was a sleepy eye blink open before they closed again. She could see Lauren shiver slightly before she blinked her eyes open again.

"'o h'm. 'ra 'ack. N' 'epr't. 'ld." Bo blinked her eyes confused as she tried to understand what on Earth Lauren had been trying to say. Her voice sounded so tired that it made the already hard to understand phrases nearly impossible.

The first one was easy enough. Bo home. But what the other two meant she could not guess

"'ou'r 'y h'm. 'ld."

_You__'__re my home. Cold._

Gently she shrugged her jacket off before she draped it over Lauren. Gently she moved her arms underneath Lauren's knees and under her upper back before she began to stand lifting her up as she went.

She could feel something tugging at her shirt as she lifted Lauren up. When she looked down she could see Lauren's first curled grabbing at her shirt. Silently she shifted Lauren so that her head was resting against her shoulder instead of hanging over the back of her arm.

Quickly she began to walk out of the building, stepping carefully to try and navigate through the sea of blood and the corpses that littered the floor, the metallic weapons scattered about. It looked like a battlefield that you would expect to see in a history textbook, not one in the modern day. Shaking her head she forced herself to focus on the doors on the far end of the hall, their way out of this godforsaken place.

As she glanced at the doors a thought hit her for the first time. _How are Kenzi and Dyson?_

Shit! She had completely forgotten about them. She had forgotten to make sure that they escaped, she had heard the sounds of pounding footsteps and had assumed that they had escaped but what if…

She shook her head and forced herself to continue to look straight ahead. She had to resist the urge to go back and look, to check and see if an of the bodies in that room were Dyson or Kenzi. She couldn't look back.

She had to get Lauren out of here and somewhere safe. She could feel herself shaking but she had to simply keep walking. They both needed to get out of this place and into the sunlight or whatever was awaiting them outside.

One foot in front of the other. Just put one foot in front of the other.

She could break down, she could panic she could do all of that later. But for now she needed to get out of this place and back to somewhere that could be considered "safe" and where Lauren could rest and where she could rest.

For a while she walked, occasionally stopping for a moment or two so that she could get a better grip on Lauren, who seemed to alternate between sleep and tired half incoherent mumblings. But through all of it Lauren's grip on her shirt never loosened.

Finally they reached the set of doors that would lead them to the outside world. Gently she shifted Lauren in her arms, trying desperately not to disturb the sleeping blonde, so that she could reach out and push the door. The feel of the cool metal against her hand almost made her want to cry in relief. Soon this nightmare would be over and they would be free from this place.

Slowly she pushed forward using the tips of her fingers to get the door to open. As soon as there was a gap she shoved her foot in between the door and the frame, trying to keep it open. Slowly she turned herself so that her shoulder went first, trying to shield Lauren from the doorframe so that she would take the blow in case the frame swung back in on her.

Maneuvering herself she finally managed to get the door open, allowing her to step out into the cool fall night. She smiled when she felt the cool breeze blow past her bringing with it the scents of the city and of the night. Shifting Lauren in her arms again she slowly stepped out from under the building's façade.

She tilted her head upward and smiled at the sight of the moon in the sky, the few stars that the city lights didn't block out shinning brightly. It was a beautiful night to be out, the clouds that had been in the sky earlier had gone, leaving them with the breathtaking view of the night sky that they so rarely saw this time of year.

"'eau'il." She heard a voice murmur. When she looked down she saw Lauren, bleary eyes but happy looking, smiling up at the moon.

Smiling slightly she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lauren's forehead, mumbling against the skin there. "Not as much as you are."

She felt the hand that was gripping her shirt tighten slightly in response. Smiling against Lauren's forehead she pressed another kiss to the skin there and simply allowed herself to smile as she stared up at the white moon.

"I love you."

* * *

"The smoke of my own breath,  
Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread,  
crotch and vine,  
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the  
passing of blood and air through my lungs,  
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and  
dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,  
The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the  
eddies of the wind,  
A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms,  
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs  
wag,  
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the  
fields and hill-sides,  
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising  
from bed and meeting the sun.

Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd  
the earth much?  
Have you practis'd so long to learn to read?  
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the  
origin of all poems,  
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are  
millions of suns left,)  
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor  
look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the  
spectres in books,  
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things  
from me,  
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."

Bo spoke the poem aloud as she stroked Lauren's hair, her lover's head resting comfortably in her lap as she slept curled beneath the warm blankets of her bed. She smiled as she glanced down again her fingers halting for a moment as she simply allowed her fingers to rest against Lauren's scalp.

She could feel her back beginning to ache slightly from her position against the hard wooden headboard of her bed.

"Radio-nucleotides…" She heard a sleepy voice mumble before her fingers started to move again, gently stroking Lauren's scalp, trying to encourage her to sleep. She couldn't help the slight smile as she laughed silently at Lauren's sleep talking.

At least something's never changed.

And she still had no damn clue what Lauren was talking about. What had she said?

Radio-nucli what now?

Shaking her head and laughed again silently she turned her attention back to the book that she was holding in front of her, the warn and faded print on the slightly yellowed pages very familiar to her. She could see the watermarks where tears had fallen as she read the words that she was now speaking to Lauren.

This little book and this poem had been with her for a long time and seen her through more then she could count.

"Which one next Lauren? The next verse of the poem?" She mumbled as she continued to play with Lauren's hair. She heard another murmur before she heard a small mumble of contentment.

"We've been roommates and bestie's for how long?" She heard a voice call out. When she looked up she saw Kenzi standing in her doorway, dressed in pyjamas, one hand resting against the frame. It was a position that she would have expected from Dyson but then again…

"I didn't even know you liked poetry." She heard Kenzi say, amusement in her voice as she entered the room.

"I don't." She replied as she set the old battered and beaten book on her side table. "Just that one. Song of Myself… it helped get me through some rough times before I found you and Lauren…"

"You weren't one of those angsty teenagers who took refugee in poetry were you? Because if you were I think I'll need to find a new best friend." She nearly burst out laughing at Kenzi's words.

The idea that she had been an angsty teen obsessed with poetry was kind of ridiculous wasn't it?

Well maybe not so much after Kyle… but before…

"No. Not before…"

"Ahh. Say no more. We don't need to go digging up dead boyfriends, well the first one anyways. But BoBo? What caused you to bring out the teenage angst book?" She could almost feel those piercing blue eyes digging into her, compelling her to give up her secrets to her best friend.

Sighing Bo turned her gaze towards Kenzi, her eyes locking with Kenzi's own. "It's a way for me to share some of me with Lauren, Kenz, the me from the past." She smiled when she heard an angry grumble escape from the aforementioned blonde.

"Sorry Lauren." She murmured as she began to move her fingers through Lauren's hair again playing with it for a few moments. She could hear the sound of coughing a few times before she heard exaggerated gagging noises.

Grudgingly Bo shifted her gaze away from Lauren and back up towards Kenzi. She could see the look of amusement on her best-friend's face. In turn she rolled her eyes. "What?" She mumbled as she shifted her gaze back down towards Lauren when she felt the blonde move in her lap.

"I don't think that I've ever seen you like this Bo. Not this... I don't even know what. But seriously you two can be disgustingly cute when you want to be."

"I'm guessing now is one of those times?"

"Yep." Despite the smile that was on Kenzi's face she could still hear the sadness underneath the word. She could see the vacant look in Kenzi's eyes as her head turned towards the wall.

She could feel her heart clench in pain for her best friend when she realized the cause of the vacant look in her sister's eyes.

Hale.

Seeing her like this with Lauren after Kenzi watched her die. This must only be rubbing salt further into those invisible wounds that marred Kenzi's heart. The ones that she could try and soothe, but it would only be a temporary balm.

Time and space were the only things that would be able to heal Kenzi. She glanced down at the woman resting in her lap and smiled, she was grateful for the warm weight of Lauren's head in her lap.

It was a reminder of what she _hadn't _lost.

She could hear a light snore escape from Lauren before a few more words of sleep-talk escaped. For a few moments it was only her and Lauren in her bed, shielded from the world and all the pain and suffering in it by the gauzy curtains that surrounded the bed. But when she turned her head she knew that there was one more thing she needed in order for this small little hide away in her bed to be complete.

"Kenzi? Do you want to come and sit for a while?" Her voice sounded tentative, even other own ears. She knew that with the world ending catastrophe averted, at least temporarily, that Kenzi would be back to grieving soon. The momentary distraction of the apocalypse gone and with no one to celebrate it with she could only guess the grief would hit Kenzi soon.

"Kenz?" She called out again, trying to get the younger woman's attention, but all Kenzi seemed to do was continue to stare at the wall. She could only guess what seeing Lauren here, alive and breathing, was doing to Kenzi.

For a little while all there was in the room was silence, occasionally broken by Lauren's mumblings. All she could do was sigh silently and continue to play with Lauren's hair, gently she reached over to the nightstand for the book. Bringing it back she used her free hand to open the book and set it down beside her so she could turn the pages.

"So another verse?"

But before she could start reading aloud again a voice interrupted her. "Another thing I never knew about you. The fact that you own pyjamas."

For a moment she was stunned silent by the voice, the way Kenzi had spoken those words as if they were some great revelation. And then she burst out laughing when she realized what exactly Kenzi had said.

Pyjamas?

That was Kenzi's way of breaking the silence in the room?

Really?

"Don't feel bad Kenzi I didn't even know I still owned these." She made a face as she shifted slightly in the tight and itchy top. "I haven't worn these since... I think I was 20 or 21. I thought that I had gotten ride of these."

She could hear Kenzi snicker slightly as she felt the eyes moving up and down. "You seriously carried around pyjamas for ten years? Without knowing it?"

"And is Lauren dressed?" She could still hear the amusement in her voice. "Or is she..."

"When we broke up it was kind of sudden Kenz, we never exactly got to swap clothes back. So she still had some pyjamas here as well as a bunch of other things that I kept meaning to give her back but never really got the chance to do it." She could see Kenzi smirk slightly at her before her eyes saddened again.

She could hear a small sniffle escape from Kenzi and she winced a little internally. Of course Hale most likely still had clothes here and that was just another reminder of what Kenzi had lost. Gently she patted the bed beside her and smiled at Kenzi, it was a small gesture but at this point and after everything they had gone through they needed a little bit of closeness.

She could feel the bed dip slightly under Kenzi's weight as she sat down on the bed. She could see Kenzi's blue eyes look into Bo's for a few seconds before her gaze drifted down to Lauren. "She seems to be doing well… I mean I guess anything's an improvement over being dead isn't it?"

Smiling down at Lauren she ran a pair of knuckles over her cheek before she glanced back up at Kenzi and smiled. "Yeah, the last time she was awake she was a little better but right now she dozes a lot, sleeping on and off. Dying seems to be kind of hard on the body,"

"And you?" She asked as she turned to Kenzi. "How are you doing after all of this?"

All she could see was Kenzi shrug her eyes watering slightly as she glanced down at Lauren. "Right now... I need time I guess. I miss Hale so much and it still hurts. I was ready so that I could... I would be able to see him again."

Gently Bo reached out and grabbed Kenzi's hand, squeezing it to try and show support, rotary and tell Kenzi that she was here for her. She could see the tears that were in her eyes and a few that fell down her cheeks. She squeezed her hand again, allowing them to just sit in silence for a little while.

She could feel Kenzi trembling next to her in the bed, but all she did was allow her. Hand to remain in Kenzi's, holding it lightly and offering her whatever support she could. "I wonder why you get Lauren back when Hale had to die, and he had to remain dead."

There was no anger in Kenzi's voice, no sadness, in fact there was little emotion at all. "Why?" She heard Kenzi ask again. "Do you get the love of your life back when I had to give up mine?"

All Bo could do was shrug helplessly. She had no idea why Lauren had come back, there was no explanation for what had happened. All she knew was that one moment she had been crying, thanking Lauren for letting her love her, leaning down to press a final kiss to Lauren's lips, a goodbye.

But then she had responded, and she could feel through the hand that had been resting over Lauren's heart could suddenly feel a steady rhythm underneath her palm. And her voice.

She had no explanation for why. She hadn't been breathing Chi into Lauren, she hadn't done anything to try and bring her back.

"I don't know Kenzi." Was all she could whisper in the end. "I don't know."

There was nothing she could say, there was nothing to say.

So all she could do was sit here and allows her lover to use her as a pillow and to hold her best friend's hand as she cried.

So that's what she did and that's what she would do for as long as they needed her to be like this.

For now having them both close was enough, knowing that they were both safe and that she could helps to keep it that way was enough.

Because for her, her entire world had been righted when Lauren had been brought back, her little world that had crumbled, that she thought she would have to give up in order to save the larger and cruel world had been saved. All because of a god, or the universe, or whatever had happened, had happened. Her own little world was safe now and she had a or chance to make up for everything that she had done.

"I love you Kenzi." She finally spoke.

There was so much more that she wanted to say but she didn't know how to express is. She didn't know how to tell Kenzi that she meant the world to her and so much more.

"I'm glad though."

She could feel Lauren shifting against her, the weight of her head being lifted up.

"Bo?" She heard a weak voice called out from below her. She could feel her hand moving as Lauren lifted herself up but a few moments later she felt the weight return to her lap. "Ugh."

"Well that's both letters of my name this time. So that's an improvement. Still feeling weak?" She felt a hand smack her on the leg. "Hey!"

"Hi Lauren." Glancing over at Kenzi she could see her red rimmed eyes and a slightly vacant expression.

"'Enzi? Wha're you doing 'ere." Bo smiled slightly ass he leaned down to press a kiss to Lauren's forehead before she glanced up at Kenzi again. She could see a hint of amusement in Kenzi's eyes when she heard Lauren speak.

"You may be breathing Hotpants but it sure sounds like you're the walking dead." Bo started to laugh when she saw Lauren's hand sneak out from underneath to the covers and wake her on the arm.

"Hey!" She heard Kenzi shout as she began to rub her arm over the spot where Lauren had hit her. "I have very delicate skin you know."

"'S 'ny way to talk to the pers'n who save' you're 'ife?" She heard Lauren grumble as she felt Lauren shifting in her lap, shifting herself upward so that the top of her head was resting against Bo's stomach. Slowly she began to runner fingers through Lauren's hair again.

"Hmmm." She heard a content purr escape from Lauren before another small yawn escaped from her. "Stop trying to put me back to sleep Bo."

She smiled when she realized that Lauren had just spoken the entire sentence without slurring the words. "You just spoke without sounding like you're drunk Lauren!"

She heard Kenzi chuckle slightly before adding her own words of "encouragement" "Congratulations on your sobriety Lauren. I didn't realize that getting sent through a... Ow!"

"It's not funny Kenzi." Before things could escalate Bo leaned down and. Captured Lauren's lipid against her own in a fierce kiss. She could quickly feel any objections fade as Lauren began to return the kiss.

"And I'll be going now. Bo come find me when you and your girlfriend come up for air." She could vaguely here Kenzi call out just as she felt Lauren's fingers tangle in her hair and guide her head closer to her lips.

A few moments after she heard Kenzi's footsteps fade she pulled back and broke the kiss. She could see the annoyed look in Lauren's eyes when she pulled away and she chuckled slightly when she felt the fingers in her hair try to tug at her head to pull her back into the kiss.

"Hi." Bo murmured as smiled looking down into Lauren's eyes. She could see that they were beginning to close again only for Lauren to blink them open a few seconds later.

Reaching over for the book that was still lying there it the bed she pulled her head away and leaned back into the pillow that had been supporting her lower back before. "So do you want another verse or do you want me to start over again?"

"Could you reread that part that you read to me before?" Bo smiled as she turned the page back to the previous one.

""The smoke of my own breath,  
Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread,  
crotch and vine,  
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the  
passing of blood and air through my lungs,  
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and  
dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,  
The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the  
eddies of the wind,  
A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms,  
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs  
wag,  
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the  
fields and hill-sides,  
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising  
from bed and meeting the sun.

Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd  
the earth much?  
Have you practis'd so long to learn to read?  
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the  
origin of all poems,  
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are  
millions of suns left,)  
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor  
look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the  
spectres in books,  
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things  
from me,  
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."

Looking down she smiled when she saw Lauren's eyes closed, her head curled up in her lap. She smiled as she moved her hand down to play with Lauren's hair before she moved turned the page before she started to read aloud again.

But just as she was about to start reading aloud again she felt Lauren shift against her again before she heard a voice whisper. "I love you."

Smiling Bo placed the book to the side on the bed before she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lauren's forehead.

"I love you too." She mumbled as she shifted to press a kiss to Lauren's lips. She felt the hands move up to her shirt and under her shirt before she started to inch it up as she felt Lauren shifting in her lap.

"Are you sure?" Bo murmured against Lauren's lips as they broke the kiss to let Lauren pull Bo's shirt over her head.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She heard Lauren breath before she pressed another kiss to Bo's lips. Wrapping her arms around Lauren's hips she allowed herself to lean back against the pillows before she pulled Lauren on top of her.

She could only smile internally at how right this felt.

"I love you." She said when she broke the kiss.

"I love you too Bo. So much." She heard Lauren murmur before they started to kiss once again.


End file.
